High protein organic materials as fuel and processes for making the same

ABSTRACT

A process of making a fuel product from a non-combustible high protein organic material such as a biological by-product or waste material. The moisture content of the high protein organic material is mechanically reduced and dried to reduce the moisture content to less than ten percent (10%). The high protein organic material is pulverized to a particle size of less than about 2 mm. The high protein organic waste material is fed into a combustion chamber and separated during combustion such as by spraying of the high protein organic waste material within the combustion chamber. Temperature and nitrogenous hydrocarbon combustion reactions within the combustion chamber are also controlled by injection of steam within the combustion chamber. The concentration of protein thermal decomposition by-products, the temperature and/or pressure within the combustion chamber is also controlled to degrade hazardous polyfluoro compounds into less hazardous compounds.

The present application is a Continuation-in-Part of and claims priorityto U.S. application Ser. No. 16/345,151 filed on Apr. 25, 2019 which isa national stage entry of International Application No. PCT/US17/30420filed on Apr. 30, 2017, which claims priority to InternationalApplication No. PCT/US16/59528 filed on Oct. 28, 2016 and U.S.application No. filed on Mar. 24, 2017, now issued as U.S. Pat. No.10,781,388, which is a Continuation-in-Part of and claims priority toU.S. application Ser. No. 14/756,904 filed on Oct. 28, 2015, now issuedas U.S. Pat. No. 10,364,400, which is a Continuation-in-Part of andclaims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 13/199,505, filed on Sep.1, 2011, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,447,354, all of which are hereinincorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to organic materials that areproblematic to burn because of their high protein content. Suchmaterials include bio-solids from waste water treatment plants; highprotein fermentation waste and waste by-products; high protein waste andby-products from agricultural sources of oil production; and highprotein meat production waste, high protein meat by-products, highprotein biological waste by-products and high protein animal excreta.These potential fuels are too high in protein to allow for suitablecombustion under typical conditions and to allow for regulatorycompliant emission characteristics in combustion chambers such as thoseused to make Steam. While these high protein organic materials can burnthey are unable to sustain unassisted auto combustion in air onceignited. These high protein organic materials are traditionallyconsidered non-auto combustible. While wood products and petroleumproducts can sustain unassisted auto combustion once ignited in air,these high protein organic materials will stop burning if additionalfuel is not used to assist in their incineration. These high proteinorganic materials maybe able to be burnt (incinerated) however, they arenot able to sustain an auto combustible state without additionaltraditional fuels being use (e.g. wood products, paper products,cardboard, high cellulosic bio-mass such as grass or hay or chaff etc.,or hydro carbons such as fuel oil, coal or natural gas). Accordingly,the present disclosure relates to a novel and improved process formaking a combustible fuel product from a traditionally considerednon-auto combustible organic material that is high in protein. Thepresent disclosure further relates to the novel use of high proteinorganic materials as a primary fuel source for a furnace, steam boiler,incinerator and other combustion applications and to a method of usingprotein thermal decomposition by-products to degrade hazardous compoundsto less hazardous substances and/or extraordinarily stable compounds notnormally degradable in conventional combustion operations.

BACKGROUND

Certain high protein organic materials are known for being problematicwhen used as a source of fuel. Such materials may be ignited, however,they have not been previously shown to auto-combust as previous attemptsto use these high protein materials as a primary fuel for combustionresults in incomplete combustion and/or the generation of a large amountof smoke which is outside of regulatory compliance limits, for example,exceeding 20% opacity averaged over 6 minutes (i.e., more than 20% oflight is blocked by emissions over any 6 minute interval).

Consequently, the only way these high protein organic materials could beused for continued combustion over an extended period of time is whenthese materials constituted only a minor component of the total fuelused in the combustion chamber. Ultimately, traditionally high proteinorganic materials needed other traditional flammable materials (e.g.,wood products, paper products, cardboard, high cellulosic bio-mass suchas grass or hay or chaff etc., or hydro carbons such as fuel oil, coalor natural gas) to constitute the majority of the fuel that is used forcombustion. These high protein organic materials, however, present greatpotential for reducing operating costs of fuel operated systems,conserving use of other fuel sources and for disposing unwantedmaterials. Examples of high protein materials which have beentraditionally problematic as alternative fuel sources include but arenot limited to grains such as spent grain and distillers grains, hopsresidues, yeast residues, solid waste material from animals, bio-solidsfrom waste water treatment plants, high protein animal meat processingby-product (e.g., meat and bone meal, feathers, feather meal, animalexcreta) and other high protein organic wastes and high protein organicby-products.

Spent grain from the brewing of alcoholic products has been used as afood product such as cattle feed. In some of the processes used to makethe food product, it is known to reduce the moisture content of thespent grain through press and/or drying operations. Although there havebeen some attempts to use spent grain as a major part of the fuel usedfor a steam boiler, such attempts have been unsuccessful due toinsufficient or failure of combustion and excessive smoke producedthereby. Although there have been some successful attempts to use spentgrain as a minor part of the fuel for a steam boiler or combustionsystem, attempts to use spent grain as the sole or primary fuel havebeen unsuccessful due to insufficient or failure of combustion andexcessive smoke produced thereby.

Similar problems have been shown to exist with respect to the use ofbio-solid waste materials from waste water treatment plants, animalsolid waste, hops residues, oil seed pulp meal, high protein animal meatprocessing by-product (e.g., meat and bone meal, feathers, feather mealand animal excreta) and other high protein organic wastes as a primaryfuel source. One feature that is common to these types of organicmaterials is that each of these materials contain a relatively largeamount of protein and other compounds which cross link and agglomerateduring combustion resulting in a relatively incomplete and inefficientcombustion process. Therefore, what is needed is a process which canreduce the extent of the protein cross linking and other cross-linkingreactions which result in the formation of larger agglomerated massesthat occurs within these materials during combustion to render themsuitable for use as an alternative fuel source.

Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a novel process for makinga fuel product from a high protein organic material such as spent grain,distillers grains, hops residue, bio-solids from waste water treatmentplants, solid animal waste, oil seed pulp meal, high protein animal meatprocessing by-product (e.g., meat and bone meal, feather meal, animalexcreta) and other high protein organic wastes or combinations thereof.The present disclosure also provides a novel and improved process formaking such fuel products. The fuel products included herein can be usedin a furnace, a steam boiler, an incinerator or other fireboxes inconformance with present day environmental and emission laws andregulations. The fuel products included herein can also be successfullyused as the sole or primary fuel for a steam boiler such as that used inthe brewing process as well as other processes, drying operations,energy generation and other applications.

The present disclosure further provides a novel and improved process formaking high protein organic materials as a fuel product using machinesor devices that are commercially available in industry.

The present disclosure further provides heat for a brewing processes andother heat-required applications using a steam boiler fueled by novelhigh protein organic material as a fuel product made from the spentgrain, distillers grains and hops residues by-products of the brewingindustry.

The present disclosure also provides for fuel operated systems ofvarious applications which incorporate the use of novel high proteinorganic materials as a fuel product made from bio-solids from a wastewater treatment plant.

The present disclosure also provides for fuel operated systems ofvarious applications which incorporate the use of novel high proteinorganic materials as a fuel product made from oil seed pulp meal.

The present disclosure also provides for fuel operated systems ofvarious applications which incorporate the use of novel high proteinanimal meat processing by-products (e.g., meat and bone meal, feathermeal, animal excreta)

The present disclosure also provides for fuel operated systems ofvarious applications which incorporate the use of novel fuel productsmade from any high protein organic materials.

The present disclosure also provides for a process for combusting atraditionally non-auto-combustible high protein organic material usingthe non-auto-combustible high protein organic material as the sole orprimary source of fuel, that is, without the use of a traditionalcombustible fuel or additives to aid in combustion (which include forexample wood products, paper products, cardboard, high cellulosicbio-mass such as grass or hay or chaff etc., or hydro carbons such asfuel oil, coal or natural gas).

In addition, many non-autocombustible high protein organic fuels containman-made toxic chemicals. These toxic chemicals are highly fluorinatedand known as “forever chemicals” because they are nearly indestructibleand last forever. “Forever chemicals” are used in manufacturingprocesses and in many consumer products such as nonstick cookware, foodpackaging, fire retardants (e.g., fire retardants used at air ports).They are also used in products such as sealant tape, floor wax, inmachinery to reduce gear friction and to make clothing stain and waterresistant (e.g., Scotchguard). “Forever chemicals” ultimately find theirway into the water system and are ingested by both humans and animals.As such, high protein solids from waste treatment plant are known forcontaining “forever chemicals”. Accordingly, the present disclosure alsoprovides a method of using protein thermal decomposition by-products todegrade extraordinarily stable hazardous compounds, such as PFAS to lesshazardous substances and/or extraordinarily stable compounds notnormally degradable in conventional combustion operations.

SUMMARY

Provided is a process for making a combustible fuel product from anon-auto-combustible organic material for a combustion system having alow nitrogen oxide (NOX) production and a low emissions opacity. Theprocess includes the following steps in any order: providing anon-auto-combustible organic material, wherein the organic material is ahigh protein organic material having a protein content of about 10% (dryweight basis) or greater; optionally mechanically removing liquid andsoluble components from the high protein organic material; optionally,applying heat to dry the organic material to reduce its moisture contentto ten percent (10%) or less by weight; pulverizing the high proteinorganic material to reduce the high protein organic material to aparticle size of less than 2 mm; separating particles of the highprotein organic material during a combustion phase to inhibit theircohesion into an integrated mass by spraying the particles into acombustion chamber; simultaneously injecting steam into the combustionchamber to enhance combustion characteristics of the high proteinorganic material in a regulatory compliant manner; and, allowing proteinthermal decomposition by-products to react with nitrogen oxides (NOX)within the combustion chamber to form water (H₂O) and nitrogen (N₂),wherein the nitrogen oxide (NOX) production ranges from about 100 partsper million (ppm) to about 150 parts per million (ppm) and wherein theopacity of the emissions is about 20% or less on average for every6-minute interval. In further aspects of the present process, thenitrogen oxide (NOX) production is less than 150 parts per million (ppm)whereas in other aspects, the nitrogen (NOX) about 150 parts per million(ppm) or less. In certain aspects of the present process, the opacity ofthe emissions is about 20% or less on average for every 6-minuteinterval and in further aspects of the present process, the opacity ofthe emissions is about 6% or less on average for every 6-minuteinterval.

According to one aspect of the process, pulverizing, pressing, applyingheat to dry the high protein organic material particles, sprayingparticles into the combustion chamber and injecting steam into thecombustion chamber degrades the proteins contained within the particlesand denatures them by allowing nitrogen cross-linking and othercross-linking reactions to occur within the particles, allowing theparticles to complete all of the cross-linking ability before theparticles contact other particles.

According to another aspect of the process, cross-linking of the highprotein organic material particles is prevented by prematurelyinitiating cross-linking reactions of the nitrogen bonds and other crosslinking reactions while the particles are being agitated and wherein thehigh protein organic material particles no longer adhere to each other,thereby arresting the particles tendency to adhere to each other withinthe combustion chamber via nitrogen bond cross-linkage and othercross-linking reactions.

According to another aspect of the process, the step of separating thehigh protein organic material by spraying the processed high proteinorganic material into the combustion chamber is effected through use ofa pneumatic stoker.

According to another aspect of the process, spraying the particles ofthe high protein organic material into the combustion chamber by thepneumatic stoker keeps the particles separated in the combustion chamberlong enough to allow heat transfer provided by the combustion process toquickly dry and then degrade proteins present within the high proteinorganic material and to prevent nitrogen cross linking and other crosslinking reactions between the particles that would have the particlesadhere to each other.

According to another aspect of the process, the particles of the highprotein organic material are separated and dispersed within thecombustion chamber and ignited and burned while in suspension andseparated from each other before they land and adhere to each other.

According to another aspect of the process, the non-auto-combustiblehigh protein organic material is rendered combustible without theaddition of other combustible fuels or additives.

According to another aspect of the process, protein thermaldecomposition by-products include ammonia, nitrogenous hydrocarbons andnitrogen-based compounds and wherein injection of ammonia, nitrogenoushydrocarbons and nitrogen-based compounds into the combustion chamber isnot required to lower NOX production.

According to another aspect of the process, the step of removing water,moisture and other soluble components from the biological waste materialincorporates the use of flocking agents, centrifuges, filter beds anddewatering separators.

According to another aspect of the process, the high protein organicmaterial is a biological waste or by-product material.

According to another aspect of the process, the biological waste orby-product material originates from waste water treatment activatedsludge waste. The process according to this aspect includes thefollowing order of steps: 1) providing a biological waste material orby-product comprising a waste water treatment activated sludge having aprotein content of about 10% or greater, on a dry weight basis (DWB) orin some cases, greater than 20%, on a dry weight basis (DWB); 2)removing water, moisture and other soluble components from thebiological waste material or by-product; 3) drying the biological wastematerial or by-product to reduce the moisture content to 10% or less byweight; 4) pulverizing the biological waste material to reduce theparticle size to be less than 2 mm; and 5) separating particles of thebiological waste material or by-product during the combustion phase toinhibit their cohesion into an integrated mass by spraying the particlesinto the combustion chamber and 6) simultaneously injecting steam intothe combustion chamber, wherein steam is injected to modify and controlcombustion reactions by reacting with nitrogen within proteins to formintermediate nitrogenous-based protein thermal combustion products whichhelp to maintain regulatory compliance of combustion emissions.

According to another aspect of the process, the step of removing ofwater from the biological waste material or by-product comprisesapplication of heat.

According to another aspect of the process, the step of dryingbiological waste or by-product material comprises drying the biologicalwaste material or by-product in a heated drier, a heated progressingfilter belt or other suitable drier and wherein the step of pulverizingthe biological waste material or by-product comprises subjecting thebiological waste material or by-product to a mill.

According to another aspect of the process, the high protein biologicalwaste material or by-product is pulverized prior to drying to ensurethat the high protein biological waste material has a particle size lessthan 2 mm.

According to another aspect of the process, the high protein organicbiological waste material is hops residue. The process according to thisaspect includes the following steps in the following order: 1)extracting oils and other compounds from the ground hops utilizingmechanical separation techniques or CO₂ extraction to obtain a highprotein hops waste residue having a protein content of about 25 to about30 weight percent, on a dry weight basis (DWB); 2) providing the hopswaste residue 3) drying the hops waste residue; 4) grinding the hopswaste residue into a powder by pulverizing the hops waste residue toensure that particles of the hops waste residue have a particle size ofless than 2 mm; 5) agitating the hops waste residue during a combustionphase to separate particles of the hops waste residue by spraying theparticles into the combustion chamber to inhibit their cohesion into anintegrated mass and 5) simultaneously injecting steam into thecombustion chamber to enhance the combustibility of the high proteinorganic material.

According to another aspect of the process, the step of pulverizing thehops waste residue includes subjecting the hops residue to a mill andwherein the step of drying the hops waste residue comprises theapplication of heat.

According to another aspect of the process, the high protein organicmaterial is a high protein waste or meal from an agricultural source ofoil production, waste by-products and by-products from an oil seed pulpprocessing.

According to another aspect of the process, the biological wastematerial comprises an oil seed pulp waste residue. The process formaking a combustible fuel product from oil seed pulp waste residueaccording to this aspect includes the following order of steps: 1)obtaining an extracted high protein oil seed pulp waste residue having aprotein content of about 35%, on a dry weight basis, a moisture contentof ten percent (10%) or less and a particle size less than 2 mm, whereinoil from the oil seed pulp waste residue may or may not be preliminarilyextracted; and 2) separating and agitating particles of the oil seedpulp waste residue during the combustion phase to inhibit their cohesioninto an integrated mass while simultaneously injecting steam into thecombustion chamber.

According to another aspect of the process, the process includes thesteps of drying and pulverizing the oil seed pulp waste residue toensure a moisture content of ten percent (10%) or less and a particlesize of less than 2 mm.

According to another aspect of the process, the high protein organicmaterial is one of a high protein animal excreta or a high proteinanimal meat processing by-product or waste. The process according tothis aspect includes the following steps: obtaining a pre-processed or“as is” high protein animal excreta or high protein animal meatprocessing by-product or waste which is non-auto-combustible, whereinthe animal excreta has a protein content ranging from about 20% to about60% (dry weight basis) and the animal meat processing by-product orwaste has a protein content ranging from about 35% to about 85%, on adry weight basis; removing liquid and soluble components from the highprotein organic material; applying heat to dry the high protein organicmaterial to reduce its moisture content to ten percent (10%) or less byweight; grinding the high protein organic material to reduce the highprotein organic material to a particle size of less than 2 mm;separating particles of the high protein organic material during acombustion phase to inhibit their cohesion into an integrated mass byspraying the particles into a combustion chamber; simultaneouslyinjecting steam into the combustion chamber to enhance combustioncharacteristics of the high protein organic material in a regulatorycompliant manner; and, allowing protein thermal decompositionby-products to react with nitrogen oxides (NOX) within the combustionchamber to form water (H₂O) and nitrogen (N₂).

Also provided is a process for converting hazardous compounds to lesshazardous substances. The process includes the following steps: 1)providing a non-auto-combustible organic material, wherein the organicmaterial is a high protein organic material having a protein content ofabout 10%, on a dry weight basis (DWB) or greater; 2) optionallymechanically removing liquid and soluble components from the highprotein organic material; 3) optionally applying heat to dry the organicmaterial to reduce its moisture content to ten percent (10%) or less byweight; 4) pulverizing the high protein organic material to reduce thehigh protein organic material to a particle size of less than 2 mm,wherein the pre-combustion steps of 2) optionally mechanically removingliquid and soluble components from the high protein organic material, 3)optionally applying heat to dry the organic material to reduce itsmoisture content to ten percent (10%) or less by weight and, 4)pulverizing the high protein organic material to reduce the high proteinorganic material to a particle size of less than 2 mm, wherein the abovementioned pre-combustion steps may occur in any order; 5) separatingparticles of the high protein organic material during a combustion phaseto inhibit their cohesion into an integrated mass by spraying theparticles into a combustion chamber; 6) simultaneously injecting steaminto the combustion chamber to enhance combustion characteristics of thehigh protein organic material; 7) allowing protein thermal decompositionby-products to react with nitrogen oxides (NOX) within the combustionchamber to form water (H₂O) and nitrogen (N₂); wherein nitrogen oxide(NOX) production ranges from about 100 parts per million (ppm) to aboutor greater than 300 parts per million (ppm); wherein protein thermaldecomposition by-products remaining after combustion include ammonium,nitrogenous hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂),nitrogen oxides (NOX), nitrogen free radicals, nitrogen cations andother non-nitrogen containing free radical intermediate combustionreactants in the combustion gasses; 8) controlling protein thermaldecomposition by-products including nitrogen oxide (NOX) production,produced during combustion within the combustion chamber; and 9)incinerating polyfluro impurities present within the processednon-autocombustible high protein organic material in the combustionchamber and/or adding and incinerating polyfluoro compounds within thecombustion chamber, wherein the protein thermal decompositionby-products functions as a reactive species to incinerate polyfluorocompounds to degrade hazardous polyfluoro compounds into less hazardoussubstances.

According to another aspect of the process, protein decompositionby-product ash resulting from the combustion of high protein organicmaterials contains about 300 ppm or more ammonium, nitrogenoushydrocarbons, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrogenoxides (NOX), nitrogen free radicals, nitrogen cations and othernon-nitrogen containing free radical intermediate combustion reactants.

According to another aspect of the process, pulverizing, pressing,applying heat to dry the high protein organic material particles,spraying particles into the combustion chamber and injecting steam intothe combustion chamber degrades the proteins contained within theparticles and denatures them by allowing nitrogen cross-linking andother cross-linking reactions to occur within the particles, allowingthe particles to complete all of the cross-linking ability before theparticles contact other particles.

According to another aspect of the process, cross-linking of the highprotein organic material particles is prevented by prematurelyinitiating cross-linking reactions of the nitrogen bonds and other crosslinking reactions while the particles are being agitated and wherein thehigh protein organic material particles no longer adhere to each other,thereby arresting the particles tendency to adhere to each other withinthe combustion chamber via nitrogen bond cross-linkage and othercross-linkage reactions.

According to another aspect of the process, the step of separating thehigh protein organic material by spraying the processed high proteinorganic material into the combustion chamber is effected through use ofa pneumatic stoker.

According to another aspect of the process, spraying the particles ofthe high protein organic material into the combustion chamber by thepneumatic stoker keeps the particles separated in the combustion chamberlong enough to allow heat transfer provided by the combustion process toquickly dry and then degrade proteins present within the high proteinorganic material and to prevent nitrogen cross linking and other crosslinking reactions between the particles that would have the particlesadhere to each other.

According to another aspect of the process, the particles of the highprotein organic material are separated and dispersed within thecombustion chamber and ignited and burned while in suspension andseparated from each other before they land and adhere to each other.

According to another aspect of the process, the non-auto-combustiblehigh protein organic material is rendered combustible without theaddition of other combustible fuels or additives.

According to another aspect of the process, the polyfluoro compoundimpurities and polyfluro compounds comprise polyfluoroalkyl compoundsand perfluoralkyl compounds (PFAS), organic fluoride (organo fluorine)compounds and non-organic mineralized organo fluorine compounds.

According to another aspect of the process, the PFAS substances furthercomprise perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate(PFOS).

According to another aspect of the process, the process includescontrolling the concentration of ammonium, nitrogenous hydrocarbons,carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOX),nitrogen cations, nitrogen free radicals and other non-nitrogencontaining free radical intermediate combustion reactants in thecombustion gasses within the combustion chamber.

According to another aspect of the process, the concentration of proteinthermal decomposition by-products and excess water within the combustionchamber is controlled to react and convert carbon-fluoride bonds in PFAScompounds to nitrogen, carbon dioxide/carbon monoxide, hydrogen fluoride(HF) and various inorganic fluoride containing salts and/or mineralsbased upon cations present in the fuel.

According to another aspect of the process, the incineration of PFAScompounds within the combustion chamber occurs at a temperature of 999°C. or below.

According to another aspect of the process, the incineration of PFAScompounds within the combustion chamber has a residence time of 1 secondor less at a temperature of 999° C.

According to another aspect of the process, the nitrogen cations andconcentrations of nitrogen cations present within the combustion chamberafter combustion of the high protein organic material vary upon the typeof high protein fuel used for combustion and ash resulting from thecombustion process.

According to another aspect of the process, the ash comprises one ormore of calcium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, silica, and manganese.

According to another aspect of the process, the PFAS substances aredegraded to an inorganic mineralized form.

According to another aspect of the process, the PFAS substances aredegraded to one or more of calcium fluoride (CaF₂), hydrogen fluoride(HF), silicon tetrafluoride (SiF₄ aluminum fluoride AlF₃ titanium (III)trifluoride (TiF₃), titanium (IV) tetrafluoride (TiF₄), iron (III)fluoride (FeF₃), magnesium fluoride (MgF₂), potassium fluoride (KF),sodium fluoride (NaF) sulfur hexafluoride (SiF₆), sulfur decafluoride(S₂F₁₀), sulfur tetrafluoride (SF₄), sulfur difluoride (SF₂), disulfurdifluoride (S₂F₂), disulfur tetrafluoride (S₂F₄), phosphorus trifluoride(PF₃), phosphorus pentafluoride (PF₅), diphosphorus tetrafluoride(P₂F₄), strontium (II) fluoride (SrF₂), barium fluoride (BaF₂),manganese (II) fluoride (MnF₂), manganese (III) fluoride (MnF₃),manganese (IV) fluoride (MnF₄), fluorapatite (Ca₅FO₁₂P₃), acuminite(SrAlF₄(OH).(H₂O)), artroeite (PbAlF_(3(OH))2), baraite (ammoniumfluorosilicate) (NH₄)₂SiF₆, bultfonteinite (Ca₂SiO₂)F₄, creedite(Ca₂SiO₂F₄), cryolite (Na₃AlF₆), fluorocaphite (Ca, Sr, Ce, Na)₅(PO₄)₃F,kogarkoite (Na₃SO₄F), neighborite (NaMgF₃), sonolite (Mn₉(SiO₄)₄F₂,thomsenolite (NaCaAlF₆.H₂O), Wagnerite (Mg, Fe)₂PO₄F), zharchikhite(AlF(OH)₂, zinc fluoride (ZnF₂), beryllium fluoride (BeF₂), lithiumfluoride (LiF), rubidium fluoride (RbF), cesium fluoride (CsF), radiumfluoride (RaF₂), zirconium (IV) fluoride (ZrF₄) mercury (II) fluoride(HgF₂), silver (I) fluoride (AgF), copper (II) fluoride (CuF₂), nickel(II) fluoride (NiF₂), chromium (II) fluoride (CrF₂), chromium (III)fluoride (CrF₃), cobalt (II) fluoride (CoF₂), vanadium (III) fluoride(VF₃), vanadium (IV) fluoride (VF₄), scandium (III) fluoride (ScF₃),boron trifluoride (BF₃), gallium (III) fluoride (GaF₃), platinumtetrafluoride (PtF₄), cadmium fluoride (CdF₂), molybdenum (IV) fluoride(MoF₄), molybdenum (V) fluoride (MoF₅), molybdenum (III) fluoride(MoF₃), tantalum (V) fluoride (TaF₅), palladium (II) fluoride (PdF₂),palladium (II, IV) fluoride (PdF₃), gold (III) fluoride (AuF₃), tin (II)fluoride (SnF₂), tin (IV) fluoride (SnF₄), lead tetrafluoride (PbF₄),bismuth (III) fluoride (BiF₃), and cerium (III) trifluoride (CeF₃).

According to another aspect of the process, the high protein organicmaterial is a biological waste or by-product material, wherein thebiological waste or by-product material originates from waste watertreatment activated sludge waste and wherein the process comprises thefollowing order of steps: 1) providing a biological waste material orby-product comprising a waste water treatment activated sludge having aprotein content of about 10% or greater, on a dry weight basis (DWB); 2)removing water, moisture and other soluble components from thebiological waste material or by-product; 3) drying the biological wastematerial or by-product to reduce the moisture content to 10% or less byweight; 4) pulverizing the biological waste material to reduce theparticle size to be less than 2 mm; 5) separating particles of thebiological waste material or by-product during the combustion phase toinhibit their cohesion into an integrated mass by spraying the particlesinto the combustion chamber; 6) simultaneously injecting steam into thecombustion chamber, wherein steam is injected to modify and controlcombustion reactions by reacting with nitrogen within proteins to formintermediate nitrogenous-based protein thermal combustion products whichhelp to maintain regulatory compliance of combustion emissions; 7)controlling protein thermal decomposition by-products including nitrogenoxide (NOX) production, produced during combustion within the combustionchamber, wherein the protein thermal decomposition by-products functionsas a reactive species to incinerate PFAS, organic fluoride (organofluorine) compounds and non-organic mineralized fluorine compounds; 8)optionally, adding additional PFAS substances in the combustion chamberfor further combustion; and 9) incinerating PFAS, organic fluoride(organo fluorine) compounds and non-organic mineralized fluorinecompounds within the combustion chamber, wherein the biological waste orby-product material contains PFAS, organic fluoride (organo fluorine)compounds and/or non-organic mineralized fluorine compounds and/orwherein PFAS, organic fluoride (organo fluorine) compounds and/ornon-organic mineralized fluorine compounds are added to the biologicalwaste or by-product material within the combustion chamber forincineration.

According to another aspect of the process, the high protein organicmaterial is hops residue and wherein the process includes the followingsteps in the following order: 1) extracting oils and other compoundsfrom the ground hops utilizing mechanical separation techniques or CO₂extraction to obtain a high protein hops waste residue having a proteincontent of about 25 to about 30 weight percent, on a dry weight basis(DWB); 2) providing the hops waste residue; 3) drying the hops wasteresidue, wherein the step of drying the hops waste residue comprises theapplication of heat; 4) grinding the hops waste residue into a powder bypulverizing the hops waste residue to ensure that particles of the hopswaste residue have a particle size of less than 2 mm, wherein the stepof pulverizing the hops waste residue includes subjecting the hopsresidue to a mill; 5) agitating the hops waste residue during acombustion phase to separate particles of the hops waste residue byspraying the particles into the combustion chamber to inhibit theircohesion into an integrated mass; 6) simultaneously injecting steam intothe combustion chamber to enhance the combustibility of the high proteinorganic material; 7) controlling protein thermal decompositionby-products, including nitrogen oxide (NOX) production, produced duringcombustion within the combustion chamber, wherein the protein thermaldecomposition by-products functions as a reactive species to incineratePFAS, organic fluoride (organo fluorine) compounds and non-organicmineralized fluorine compounds; 8) optionally, adding additional PFASsubstances in the combustion chamber for further combustion; and 9)incinerating PFAS, organic fluoride (organo fluorine) compounds andnon-organic mineralized fluorine compounds within the combustionchamber, wherein the biological waste or by-product material containsPFAS, organic fluoride (organo fluorine) compounds and/or non-organicmineralized fluorine compounds and/or wherein PFAS, organic fluoride(organo fluorine) compounds and/or non-organic mineralized fluorinecompounds are added to the biological waste or by-product materialwithin the combustion chamber for incineration.

According to another aspect of the process, the high protein organicmaterial is a high protein waste or meal from an agricultural source ofoil production, waste by-products and by-products from an oil seed pulpprocessing.

According to another aspect of the process, the high protein organicmaterial is an oil seed pulp waste residue, wherein the process includesthe following order of steps: 1) obtaining an extracted high protein oilseed pulp waste residue having a protein content of about 35%, on a dryweight basis (DWB), a moisture content of ten percent (10%) or less anda particle size less than 2 mm, wherein oil from the oil seed pulp wasteresidue may or may not be preliminarily extracted; 2) separating andagitating particles of the oil seed pulp waste residue during thecombustion phase to inhibit their cohesion into an integrated mass whilesimultaneously injecting steam into the combustion chamber; 3)controlling protein thermal decomposition by-products including nitrogenoxide (NOX) production, produced during combustion within the combustionchamber, wherein the protein thermal decomposition by-products functionsas a reactive species to incinerate PFAS, organic fluoride (organofluorine) compounds and non-organic mineralized fluorine compounds; 4)optionally, adding additional PFAS, organic fluoride (organo fluorine)compounds and non-organic mineralized fluorine compounds in thecombustion chamber for further combustion; and 5) incinerating PFAS,organic fluoride (organo fluorine) compounds and non-organic mineralizedfluorine compounds within the combustion chamber, wherein the oil seedpulp waste residue contains PFAS, organic fluoride (organo fluorine)compounds and/or non-organic mineralized fluorine compounds.

According to another aspect of the process, the high protein organicmaterial is one of a high protein animal excreta or a high proteinanimal meat processing by-product or waste and wherein the processincludes obtaining a pre-processed or “as is” high protein animalexcreta or high protein animal meat processing by-product or waste whichis non-auto-combustible, wherein the animal excreta has a proteincontent ranging from about 20% to about 60%, on a dry weight basis (DWB)and the animal meat processing by-product or waste has a protein contentranging from about 35% to about 85% dry weight basis.

Also provided is a process for converting hazardous compounds to lesshazardous substances within a traditional combustion chamber.Traditional combustion chambers include any combustion chamber having afuel intake, an exhaust, and an ignition source known to those ofordinary skill in the art. Traditional combustion chambers includeconventional chambers used in various industries including but notlimited to combustions chambers used to provide heat for variousindustrial processes and combustion chambers used for external andinternal combustion engines. The process includes the followingsteps: 1) providing an auto-combustible organic fuel; 2) providing anon-auto-combustible organic material, wherein the organic material is ahigh protein organic material having a protein content of about 10%, ona dry weight basis (DWB) or greater; 3) optionally mechanically removingliquid and soluble components from the high protein organic material; 4)optionally applying heat to dry the organic material to reduce itsmoisture content to ten percent (10%) or less by weight; 5) pulverizingthe high protein organic material to reduce the high protein organicmaterial to a particle size of less than 2 mm, wherein thepre-combustion steps of 3) optionally mechanically removing liquid andsoluble components from the high protein organic material, 4) optionallyapplying heat to dry the organic material to reduce its moisture contentto ten percent (10%) or less by weight and, 5) pulverizing the highprotein organic material to reduce the high protein organic material toa particle size of less than 2 mm may occur in any order; 6) injectingthe auto-combustible organic material into a combustion chamber; 7)spraying the non-auto-combustible high protein organic material into thecombustion chamber through use of a pneumatic stoker to separateparticles of the high protein organic material and inhibit theircohesion into an integrated mass during combustion; 8) simultaneouslyinjecting steam into the combustion chamber to enhance combustioncharacteristics of the high protein organic material; 9) allowingprotein thermal decomposition by-products to react with nitrogen oxides(NOX) within the combustion chamber to form water (H₂O) and nitrogen(N₂), wherein nitrogen oxide (NOX) production ranges from about 100parts per million (ppm) to greater than 300 parts per million (ppm) (oralternatively from about 100 parts per million (ppm) to about 150 partsper million (ppm)), wherein protein thermal decomposition by-productsremaining after combustion include ammonium, nitrogenous hydrocarbons,carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOX),nitrogen free radicals, nitrogen cations and other non-nitrogencontaining free radical intermediate combustion reactants in thecombustion gasses; 10) controlling protein thermal decompositionby-products including nitrogen oxide (NOX) production, produced duringcombustion within the combustion chamber; and 11) incineratingpolyfluoro compound impurities present within the processednon-autocombustible high protein organic material in the combustionchamber and adding and incinerating additional polyfluoro compoundswithin the combustion chamber as an additional or alternative step,wherein the protein thermal decomposition by-products functions as areactive species to incinerate polyfluoro compounds to degrade hazardouspolyfluoro compounds into less hazardous substances.

SUMMARY OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will becomeapparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwithin the attached drawings, as shown within FIGS. 1-3, which includethree schematic flow diagrams of the process of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure provides a novel fuel product made from a highprotein non-auto-combustible organic material. Examples ofnon-auto-combustible organic materials which may be used as a fuelsource include spent grain, hops residues, solid animal waste,biological waste materials including bio-solid waste originating fromwaste water treatment plant bio-solid sludge waste oil seed pulp meal,distillers grains, feather meal (a by-product of the poultry industry),high protein animal meat processing by-product (e.g., meat and bonemeal, feathers, feather meal, and animal excreta) and other high proteinorganic materials as a fuel sources that are processed to change itscomposition, structure, handling and combustion environment in order tosufficiently increase its combustibility. In certain aspects of theprocess, these changes in composition, structure, handling, andcombustion environment allow the high protein non-auto-combustible wastematerial to be used as a primary or sole fuel product in accordance withair quality standards and other environmental regulations and law.

The high protein waste materials mentioned above may be categorized intothe following four general types of waste materials: 1) bio-solids fromwaste water treatment plants (containing from 10% protein to 30% proteinon a dry weight basis); 2) high protein fermentation waste and wasteby-products (examples include but are not limited to spent grain, hopresidue, yeast and protein precipitates) (containing from 20% protein to50% protein on a dry weight basis); 3) high protein waste andby-products from agricultural sources of oil production and seedprocessing, waste by-products and by-products (examples include but arenot limited to sources of oil seed pulp meal (also called seed meal)including cotton seed pulp (or cotton seed meal), sunflower seed pulp(or sunflower meal), soybean pulp and hulls, olive pulp, coconut pulp,cotton seed, canola oil, vegetable oil in general, wheat middlings, corngluten mill feed, hominy feed and combinations thereof) (containing from30% protein to 50% protein on a dry weight basis); and 4) high proteinanimal meat processing by-product (examples include but are not limitedto meat and bone meal, feathers, feather meal and animal excreta)(containing from 35% protein to over 80% protein on a dry weight basis).

Sources of spent grains, distillers grains and hops residues includebreweries, distilleries and ethanol production facilities. High proteinwaste products made from grain (e.g., spent grain) hops residues anddistillers grains are a by-product of a brewing process. In one form ofthe present disclosure, a high protein fermentation waste from spentgrain is obtained primarily as a malt by-product of a beer brewingprocess which is processed to yield a high protein organic materialwhich may be used as a fuel. A summary of this process is shown forillustrative purposes within FIG. 1 which for exemplary purposesdescribes the processing of spent grain into a combustible fuel,although various aspects of the process illustrated within FIG. 1 anddescribed herein may also be applicable to processing other high proteinorganic materials into a combustible fuel. During brewing, the grain isfirst crushed or pulverized by a hammer mill 10 to reduce it to a finelyground median particle size generally less than 2 mm. In other aspectsof the present teaching, the grain may be reduced to a median particlesize of 0.25 mm to 0.6 mm with less than 1% of the grain being greaterthan 2 mm, however, this reduction in particle size is not necessary forcombustion to occur as a higher protein content generally implies animproved combustion process for smaller particle sizes. The median,particle size between 0.25 mm to 0.6 mm means that fifty percent (50%)of the grain particle mass is greater than and fifty percent (50%) ofgrain particle mass is smaller than the median size. Pulverizing thegrain reduces adhesion among various elements of the grain whichnormally serves to solidify the grain into one cohesive andair-impermeable mass upon combustion. It also increases the surface areaof the particles to facilitate the reduction of moisture and increasecombustibility. In one form of the present disclosure, the mill used inthis instance is a Meura ClassicMill CLM3 model fine grinding hammermill with horizontal shaft. This grinding process to obtain the desiredparticle size, for combustion, can be accomplished before or after thebrewing and drying process, prior to combustion. Although the MeuraClassicMill CLM3 mill model is mentioned above, any other suitabledevice known to those of ordinary skill in the art may be used topulverize the grain.

After pulverizing, the grain is moved such as by a drag chain conveyorto a mash vessel 12 and hydrated from which it may optionally be movedsuch as by a centrifugal pump to a mash filter press 14 where it ispressed. This step removes water mechanically from the grain materialwhich increases the overall thermal efficiency of the process and allowsexcess heat to be available for other uses within the process. Forexample, heat vaporization of excess water wastes the application ofheat energy which might be redirected for other beneficial uses such assteam generation for industrial use.

The latter process steps reduce the moisture content and removes solublesugar and protein contents which also act as adhesives during subsequentdrying of the spent grain. In certain aspects of the present teaching,the moisture content is reduced to below 65%. With these compoundsreduced, the tendency of the grain particles to establish cohesion andstructural integrity during subsequent drying and burning as a fuel issignificantly reduced. The fact that the spent grain has beenpulverized, also enables the cloth to act as a filter through which themoisture passes when the spent grain is pressed on the cloth. The latteralso reduces the energy needed to further dry the spent grains beforeits use as fuel. In one preferred process of the present disclosure, aMeura 2001 mash filter press available in the industry may be used.However, other methods and devices may also be used to press themoisture and other soluble compounds from the spent grain as describedabove. Due to the compression of the spent grains to remove moisture, itis preferred that air pulses be directed into the spent grain on thefilter cloth before opening the filter to help break up the spent graincake to facilitate release of the spent grain from binding to the filtercloth when the filter is opened. The spent grain is then moved to ahopper 16 by a pneumatic pump from which it is moved to a grain dryingdrum 18 by an auger and pulled through the drier drum by a pneumaticfan, for example.

The next step in the process is that the spent grain is dried to furtherreduce the moisture content to ten percent (10%) by weight or less. Inone embodiment, a rotating dryer drum 18 is used to receive the spentgrain and is rotated while heated air in the drum subjects the spentgrain to the desired drying temperature while the drum is rotating. Thereduced finely ground spent grain particles helps speed up the dryingprocess to reach the desired moisture level preferably ten percent (10%)or less by weight in order to increase its combustibility. A suitabledryer drum that can be used is one made by Baker Rullman which isreadily available on the market. Other methods of drying the spent grainto sufficiently reduce its moisture content may of course be used. Also,grinding the dried spent grain can be done after the drying process toachieve the desired particle size distribution.

After having been processed as described above, the spent grain can bestored in a hopper 20 for immediate or eventual use as a primary fuelsource. For example, the spent grain may be introduced in a boiler 22used in a brewery to produce steam for heating the brew house vessels.In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the dried spent grain is moved to thehopper 20 by a cyclone 24. An auger is then used to convey the spentgrain fuel into the combustion chamber 28. For combustion within theboiler 22 (e.g., a steam boiler), the spent grain is moved in anysuitable manner, from the fuel bin through the combustion chamber 28,such as down an inclined grate 26 positioned within the combustionchamber 28 while the grate 26 is agitated or vibrated. In one process, amotor 30 connected by linkage 32 to the grate 26 is employed to vibratethe grate as the spent grain is moved through the combustion chamber 28.In another process, illustrated within FIG. 2, steam is injected intothe combustion chamber 28 from a steam generator 40 during thecombustion process. The timing frequency and intensity of the inclinedgrate agitation can be controlled and adjusted as needed for bestcombustion. The angle of the inclined grate being combined with theagitation or vibration of the grate helps to keep the spent grain movingthrough the combustion chamber while it burns to inhibit cohesion andsolidification of its particles. Under normal circumstances, spent grainthat has not been processed as described above tends to form asponge-like impermeable, cohesive mass when heated which inhibits thetransfer of oxygen and heat to the interior of the mass and therebyprevents sufficient combustion and generates large amounts of smokewhile also causing an excessive buildup of material within thecombustion chamber. In contrast, the process of the present disclosurenot only sufficiently reduces the moisture content and particle size ofthe spent grain, soluble proteins and sugars which act as binding agentsduring heating, but it also, through agitation and separation, breaks upthe nitrogen bond cross linking and other cross-linking reactions (forexample, non-nitrogen based cross-linking such as cross linking ofsoluble sugars during sugar decomposition) that occurs during thermaldegradation of protein, all of which can inhibit combustion. Inaddition, the vibration and continual movement of the spent grainthrough the combustion chamber further breaks up the spent grain intosmaller clumps thereby avoiding cohesion of the particles into an,agglomerated cohesive mass. This agglomeration of particles preventssufficient heat transfer and diffusion characteristics for oxygen andwater with the nitrogenous hydrocarbon combustion reactions of theagglomerated protein mass. In one process of the present disclosure, aKing Coal combustion chamber may be used. After combustion, waste ash iscollected and disposed of. The process of the present disclosureprovides effective combustion of the spent grain to allow it to be usedas the sole source of fuel, that is, without the need for combining itwith a readily combustible fuel source such as wood, wood chips, woodby-products, fuel oil, natural gas, coal or other combustibles oradditives to aid in combustion.

In another process of the present disclosure, rather than separating thespent grain particles during combustion by vibrating or agitating theparticles through means of the grate 26, linkage 32 and motor 30 asdescribed above, the spent grain particles are separated and disbursedduring combustion by being introduced or fed and sprayed into thecombustion chamber by a device such as a pneumatic stoker. In oneembodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a pneumatic stoker 34 is connected tothe combustion chamber 28 by a linkage 32 to blow the spent grainthrough the combustion chamber 28. The pneumatic stoker sprays the spentgrain particles or particles of another type of high protein organicmaterial into the combustion chamber thereby separating and disbursingthe particles. The particles are ignited and burned while they are insuspension and separated from each other and before they can come intocontact with and adhere to each other on the grate, bed, other surfaceor while suspended. This method also increases heat transfer to fullydehydrate the particles which needs to happen for protein denaturing tofully occur and increases the oxygen flow for combustion to allow thespent grain to be used as the sole fuel source in brewery boilers. Inanother process disclosed herein, steam is simultaneously injected intothe combustion chamber 28 from a steam generator 40 during as theorganic particulate material is sprayed within the combustion chamber bythe pneumatic stoker.

The above-described process steps reflect the order of steps forprocessing a spent grain fuel product for combustion as disclosedherein. However, in the case of other fuels, the order of steps forprocessing the fuel for combustion may differ. For example, in somecases, the step of mechanically removing moisture and other solublecomponents from the fuel material as described in step 2 may be entirelyeliminated.

As previously mentioned, the steps described above may generally beapplied to other non-auto-combustible high protein organic materials.These other high protein organic materials include other high proteinfermentation by-product materials such as distillers grains, yeast andhops residues, bio-solid waste materials from waste water treatmentplants, oil seed pulp (often called seed meal), animal excreta, and highprotein meat production waste (including meat and bone meal, feathers,feather meal and animal excreta) and other high protein wastes. Thewaste materials provided herein may also be described as biologicalwaste materials or organic materials or biological materials or asby-products. As is the case for spent grain, these high protein organicmaterials present combustion challenges which are difficult to overcomedue to their respective high protein content. High protein organicmaterials that are traditionally considered as non-auto-combustiblematerials which may be used in a process for making a combustible fuelproduct typically have a protein content of about 10% or greater, on adry weight basis (DWB) and are ordinarily considered insoluble. In othercases, high protein non-auto-combustible organic materials used formaking a combustible fuel product have a protein content of about 20% orgreater. High protein fermentation waste and waste by-products processedinto a fuel product have a protein content ranging from about 25% toabout 40%, on a dry weight basis (DWB). For example, hops residuesthrough processing or concentrating of hops alpha/beta acids and hopsoils has a protein content of about 25 to about 30%, on a dry weightbasis (DWB). Bio-solids from waste water treatment plants have a proteincontent ranging from about 10% or greater, on a dry weight basis (DWB)and in some cases from about 20% or greater, on a dry weight basis(DWB). Animal excreta has a protein content ranging from about 20% toabout 50% or more, on a dry weight basis (DWB). For example, municipalwaste water treatment activated sludge and animal excreta processed intoa fuel product can have a large protein content range of about 10% (DWB)to about 60% (DWB) depending upon the specific plant operations. Highprotein waste from agricultural sources of oil production processed intoa fuel product has a protein content ranging from about 20% to about50%, on a dry weight basis (DWB). For example, the general class of anoil seed pulp meal (e.g., including but not limited to sunflower or rapeseed, soy bean, corn, cotton seed, coconut, olive oil, etc.) fuelproduct has a protein content of about 35%, on a dry weight basis (DWB).Distillers Dried Grains are similar to brewers dried grains but from adistillery also has a protein content of about 30%, on a dry weightbasis (DWB). High protein meat production waste and waste by-productsprocessed into a fuel product have a protein content ranging from about30% to about 85%, on a dry weight basis (DWB). For example, featherwaste fuel product has a protein content of about 80% to about 85%. Allof these materials are characterized as high protein by-products orwaste materials which could be used as fuel products. In each of thesealternative fuel types, the degree of hydration and the degree ofpulverizing to achieve the appropriate particle size distribution forcombustion is dependent upon the respective particles' adhesioncharacteristics and the protein content which is directly proportionalto the nitrogen cross-linking capability at the molecular level. Forexample, during thermal degradation, the nitrogen bonds in proteinscross link in a macro mechanical way which results in clumping, crustingor clinkering of the fuel product. This restricts oxygen transmission,heat transfer and the diffusion of reaction compounds such as steam intothe burning fuel. The low moisture content obtained by process step 3)and the small particle size obtained by process step 1) affects howquickly the temperature of the particle is raised. The process ofquickly driving off the moisture and subsequently heating the particlesdegrades the proteins, denaturing them by essentially having thenitrogen bonds and other cross linking reactions react to complete allof their cross-linking ability on the surface of the particles if notall through the particles while they are agitated in suspension beforethe particles can touch other particles. Once the cross linking iscomplete, the particles will no longer adhere to each other. Thisarrests the particles tendency to adhere to each other via a nitrogenbond cross linkage and through other cross linking reactions. The smallparticle size obtained from step 1) and the agitation and/or separationapplied during step 4) keep the surface to oxygen and injected steam(water vapor) exposure appropriate for oxygen diffusion enablingcomplete appropriate combustion to be accomplished and for the injectedsteam (water vapor) to more effectively react with the nitrogen inprotein. Steps 1) and 4) work in conjunction to produce a combustiblefuel product. For instance, if the small particles were allowed toeasily touch during protein thermal degradation, they would form largerclumps that would be glazed over with a cross linked protein layerreducing oxygen and steam diffusion necessary for regulatory compliantemissions during combustion. On the other hand, if the particles weretoo large to begin with, this would reduce the oxygen availability ordiffusion necessary for complete combustion to occur as protein wouldcross link glazing over the larger particles reducing oxygen and steam(water vapor) diffusion necessary for regulatory compliant emissionsduring combustion.

Regulatory compliant emissions, are intended to encompass any set ofstandards established by any governmental regulatory agency to protectthe environment. For example, in the U.S., emissions are in certainsituations regulated to not exceed 20% opacity averaged over 6 minutes.The combustion process disclosed herein is capable of meeting thisregulatory standard as well as other standards set by other agencies andgovernments of other countries including standards which are morestringent. For example, the combustion process disclosed herein iscapable of meeting opacity requirements within time intervals shorterthan six minutes, lower opacity levels averaged over 6 minutes, and isalso capable of meeting regulations which require specific limits oramounts (e.g., pounds of NOX emissions). The present process can alsoachieve even lower limits than that which is currently required in theU.S.

As mentioned above, in the case of other high protein organic materialsprocessed to become fuels, the order of steps for processing the fuelfor combustion may differ and in some cases, the step of mechanicallyremoving moisture and other soluble components from the fuel material asdescribed in step 2) may be eliminated. For example, in one embodiment,the pulverizing step (i.e., step 1) above) and the drying step (i.e.,step 3) above) may need occur in a different order to ensure that fineparticles do not re-adhere together during the drying process rightbefore they are fed into the combustion chamber.

To make a fuel product from hops residue, the hops must be processed toextract out oils and desirable compounds. The processing of hops toextract the oils and other desirable compounds leaves a high proteinresidue. In order to process the hops, a hops processor first dries thehops to obtain dry hops cones. Next, the dry hops cones are ground.Then, the hops is subjected to an extraction such as a CO₂ extraction orother mechanical separation technique known within the art to remove orconcentrate the essential oils and other desirable compounds. Varioustypes of extraction methods may be used in this process including butnot limited to normal CO₂ extraction processes, CO₂ triple pointextraction processes as well as other mechanical separation techniquessuitable for use within the art. The separation and/or extractionprocess allows the desirable compounds to be removed or extracted fromthe hops, creating a by-product or hops residue waste material. Incertain cases, after the waste or hops residue is removed or extracted,it may need to be re-ground. In some embodiments, the hops residue isdried and pre-ground but due to processing may reform into largerparticle groupings that will need to be re-ground to a powder. Afterprocessing the hops residue for combustion, the hops residue may beagitated and/or separated as described above during the combustion phaseto separate particles of the fuel product to inhibit their cohesion intoan integrated mass. In certain embodiments, the separation step duringthe combustion phase is accomplished through the use of a pneumaticstoker. In other embodiments, the agitation step during the combustionphase is accomplished through the use of a vibrating grate. As describedabove, the process steps for making a fuel product from hops residue mayoccur in any order.

To make a fuel product from biological waste material, one can processmunicipal waste water treatment activated sludge waste, which is a humanbio-hazard which may contain PFAS and other fluorinated compounds (alsoreferred to herein as polyfluoro impurities and polyfluoro compounds)and which may originate from industrial sources or fire safety controlsources. Waste water sludge which contain polyfluoro compounds such asPFAS cannot be used to make compost or otherwise treated and used forland applications. Sources of polyfluoro compounds such as PFAS thathave contaminated waste water sludge require the waste water sludge tobe treated differently such that the waste water sludge can no longer betreated in a combustion process unless the combustion process alsocontemplates degrading PFAS and other fluorinated compounds. Rather, thecombustion process must meet the standards required for combusting anddegrading polyfluoro compounds, in particular, PFAS. The processencompasses controlling protein thermal decomposition by-productsincluding ammonium, nitrogenous hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide (CO),carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOX), nitrogen cations, nitrogenfree radicals and other non-nitrogen containing free radicalintermediate combustion reactants in the combustion gasses for furthercombustion with hydrogen fluoride and inorganic fluorine compounds,i.e., fluoride mineralized in the form of salts within the ash beforesuch by-products are discharged into air. The process begins with thebiological waste material starting off very wet (approximately 99%water). This first step is therefore to dewater the biological wastematerial as much as possible using flocking agents, centrifuges anddewatering separators. The biological waste material will then be driedtypically on a heated rotating drum, a heat progressing filter belt,drum filter or other suitable drier. This results in dry flakes orpellets having less than 10% moisture which are too large and which willneed to be pulverized. Thus, the processing of biological waste materialinto a fuel product requires the following steps: 1) mechanical removalof water, moisture and other soluble components from the biologicalwaste material; 2) drying the biological waste material to reduce themoisture content to 10% or less by weight; 3) pulverizing the biologicalwaste material to reduce the particle size to be less than 2 mm; and 4)agitating and/or separating the biological waste material as describedabove during the combustion phase to separate particles of thebiological waste material to inhibit their cohesion into an integratedmass and 5) simultaneously injecting steam within the combustionchamber. The combustion process may occur within an integrated steamboiler, an incinerator, furnace or any other type of combustion chambertypically used by those of skill in the art to generate heat. In certainembodiments, the separation during the combustion phase is accomplishedthrough the use of a pneumatic stoker. In other embodiments, theagitation step during the combustion phase is accomplished through theuse of a vibrating grate or a combination of both a pneumatic stoker anda vibrating grate. It is noted that step 2) uses any means within thepurview of an individual of suitable skill in the art to remove freewater. Also; the high water content of the biological waste materialrequires the application of additional heat to the waste material in thedrying step. In general, municipalities have an interest in applying thedisclosed process not only for heat generation but more importantly, inorder to dispose of bio-hazardous material via combustion. In addition,the dried waste product has a higher value as fuel than as other meansof disposal. For example, use of land application for disposingbiological waste material (if regulations allow) has a much lowerrevenue value to a municipality than the value that would be Obtained ifthe biological waste material were to be used as a fuel for theproduction of heat.

To make a fuel product from animal excreta; one can process the animalexcreta in a manner similar to the process steps described above withrespect to biological waste material. Animal excreta, is a bio-hazardwhich also starts off very wet. This fecal material is first dewateredusing thickeners, flocking agents, presses, centrifuges and dewateringseparators to separate out the settable solids. Next, the settablesolids are dried on commonly available industrial drying equipment suchas a belt or drum drier. The resulting dry flakes or pellets are thenpulverized. Thus, the processing of animal excreta into a fuel productrequires the following steps: 1) mechanical removal of water, moistureand other soluble components from the animal excreta; 2) drying theanimal excreta to reduce the moisture content to 10% or less by weight;3) pulverizing the animal excreta to reduce the particle size to be lessthan 2 mm; and 4) agitating and/or separating the animal excreta asdescribed above during the combustion phase to separate particles of theanimal excreta to inhibit their cohesion into an integrated mass and 5)simultaneously injecting steam within the combustion chamber to assistin the combustion reactions and to maintain regulatory compliantcombustion based upon the exact nature of the organic materials. Incertain embodiments, the separation step during the combustion phase isaccomplished through the use of a pneumatic stoker. In otherembodiments, the agitation step during the combustion phase isaccomplished through the use of a vibrating grate. It is noted that step2) uses any means within the purview of an individual of suitable skillin the art to remove free water. Also, the high water content of thebiological waste material requires the application of additional heat tothe waste material in the drying step. This process may be applied byfarms to not only generate some form of heat recovery but asimportantly, to dispose of a bio-hazardous material rather than holdingit until growing season for land application as fertilizer (farms holdthis material for up to a full year). The benefit of employing thisprocess is that the value of the waste stream as an energy source ismuch more significant than its value as a soil enhancement. Additionalbenefits of employing this process include reducing foul odor andreducing the liability for having exposed standing waste ponds which areregulated stringently by the regulatory agencies.

Oil seed pulp meal streams have a fairly high heating value. To make afuel product from a high protein waste from an agricultural source ofoil production such as oil seed pulp meal, the oil seed pulp mealundergoes a seed oil extraction. In the extraction process, high proteinresidue is separated from the oil and the pulp waste material (oftencalled seed meal which maybe already dry (shelf stable)) and groundready for animal feed processing. Additional drying and pulverizingsteps may be applied to the oil seed pulp meal material as describedabove as deemed necessary. For example, in certain embodiments, the oilseed pulp meal material may be dried to reduce the moisture content to10% or less by weight and then pulverized or in reverse order to reducethe particle size to be less than 2 mm. The oil seed pulp meal materialis then agitated and/or separated as described above during thecombustion phase to separate particles of the oil seed pulp mealmaterial to inhibit their cohesion into an integrated mass whilesimultaneously injecting steam within the combustion chamber to assistin the combustion reactions and to maintain regulatory compliantcombustion based upon the exact nature of the organic materials. Thegrinding step may occur immediately after the extraction step or mayoccur after a drying and pulverizing as described above. In certainembodiments, the separation step during the combustion phase isaccomplished through the use of a pneumatic stoker. In otherembodiments, the agitation step during the combustion phase isaccomplished through the use of a vibrating grate. The pneumatic stokerand the vibrating grate may also be used together.

To make a fuel product from a high protein fermentation waste such asdistillers grains, one would follow the process described above withrespect to the processing of brewery spent grains. In this regard,distillers dried grains and any grains from the fermentation industryare regarded by those of skill in the art to be similar to those ofbrewers dried spent grains. In addition, the process described above mayalso be applied to other types of high protein waste.

To make a fuel product from high protein meat production waste and wasteby-products such as meat and bone meal, feathers, feather meal andexcrement (animal excreta), one may process the by-products or wastematerial by cooking and milling to stabilize the product so that it canbe made into a feed supplement. One would then follow the generalprocess described above with respect to other high protein organic wastematerials.

The numerous types of non-autocombustible high protein organic materialsreferenced above including high protein fermentation waste (e.g.,distillers grains, yeast and hops residue), bio-solid waste material,oil seed pulp waste, animal excreta, and high protein meat productionwaste and waste by-products may also be used as an additive intraditional combustion chambers for the destruction of polyfluorocompounds such as PFAS, organic fluoride (organo fluorine) compounds andnon-organic mineralized organo fluorine compounds.

Accordingly, the present disclosure also provides a process forconverting hazardous compounds to less hazardous substances within atraditional combustion chamber. The process includes the steps 1)providing an auto-combustible organic fuel (e.g., any traditional typeof fossil fuel (e.g., coal, oil or gasoline); and 2) providing anon-auto-combustible organic material as disclosed above. The organicmaterial is a high protein organic material having a protein content ofabout 10%, on a dry weight basis (DWB) or greater. The process initiallyincludes the steps of optionally, mechanically removing liquid andsoluble components from the high protein organic material; optionally,applying heat to dry the organic material to reduce its moisture contentto ten percent (10%) or less by weight; and pulverizing the high proteinorganic material to reduce the high protein organic material to aparticle size of less than 2 mm. These steps, referred to aspre-combustion steps may occur in any order depending on the processingrequirements of the specific non-autocombustible organic material. Theauto-combustible organic material is then injected into a combustionchamber by spraying. The spraying of the non-auto-combustible highprotein organic material into the combustion chamber may be accomplishedthrough use of a pneumatic stoker and has the effect of separatingparticles of the high protein organic material within the combustionchamber to thereby inhibit their cohesion into an integrated mass duringcombustion. Simultaneously, while being sprayed into the combustionchamber, steam is injected into the combustion chamber to enhancecombustion characteristics of the high protein organic material. Proteinthermal decomposition by-products are subsequently allowed to react withnitrogen oxides (NOX) within the combustion chamber to form water (H₂O)and nitrogen (N₂). It is noted that nitrogen oxide (NOX) productionwithin the combustion chamber ranges from about 100 parts per million(ppm) to greater than 300 parts per million (ppm) and that the proteinthermal decomposition by-products remaining after combustion includeammonium, nitrogenous hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide(CO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOX), nitrogen free radicals, nitrogen cationsand other non-nitrogen containing free radical intermediate combustionreactants in the combustion gasses. The amount of protein thermaldecomposition by-products produced during combustion within thecombustion chamber is then controlled to provide the conditions ofcombustion of polyfluoro compounds. Finally, polyfluoro compoundimpurities present within the processed non-autocombustible high proteinorganic material in the combustion chamber are incinerated. Additionalpolyfluoro compounds may also be added within the combustion chamber forincineration as an alternative or additional step. It is noted that theprotein thermal decomposition by-products functions as a reactivespecies to incinerate polyfluoro compounds to degrade hazardouspolyfluoro compounds into less hazardous substances.

In each of the processes described above with respect to high proteinbio-solids from waste water treatment plants; high protein animalexcreta; high protein fermentation waste and waste by-products; highprotein waste from agricultural sources of oil production, high proteinwaste by-products and high protein by-products; and high protein meatproduction waste by products and by-products, the separation step duringcombustion may be applied by a pneumatic stoker or by an auger whichdrops the grain onto a vibrating bed and transfers the fuel product tothe combustion chamber through an incline or a combination of both.However, by blowing or spraying the particles into the combustionchamber, the pneumatic stoker keeps the particles separated in thecombustion chamber long enough to allow the heat transfer provided bythe combustion process to quickly dry the particles out and to degradethe proteins and other compounds within the combustible fuel product.This prevents nitrogen-based cross linking and other non-nitrogen basedcross-linking reactions. Examples of non-nitrogen based cross linkingreactions include cross linking of carbohydrates (these can includesimple sugars to more complex dextrins) during thermal decompositionbetween the particles that would result in the particles adhering toeach other. This unique feature for addressing cross linking and thenalso degrading proteins with steam is not considered by combustiontechnologists and therefore not addressed in traditional feedingmechanisms of potential non-auto combustible fuel into the combustionchamber.

As mentioned above, the combustion process provides for both quicklydriving off the moisture and subsequently heating the particles todenature the proteins. Although the timing of these events occursrelatively quickly for the particles to be fully dehydrated forcombustion, the process also requires the input of water into thecombustion chamber in order to facilitate certain chemical combustionreactions within the combustion chamber. In short, there are foursources for introducing water within the combustion chamber. Thosesources include water within the combustion air which supports thecombustion process, water within the particle itself that is to becombusted, the combustion reactions which generate water and steam whichis injected into the combustion chamber. By controlling the amount ofwater that is introduced within the combustion chamber from these foursources, the temperature of the combustion process can be controlled andcombustion reactions can be influenced to maintain regulatory compliancein order to utilize otherwise non-auto-combustible high protein organicmaterial or waste product or by-product as a fuel. Water produced duringcombustion is basically the result of oxidation of hydrocarbons whichprimarily produce carbon dioxide and water. Water is also an active partof many intermediate combustion reactions. The majority of water intraditional combustion comes from the fuel combustion reaction productsand a much smaller amount which comes from the water in the fuel itself(assuming this water concentration is 10% moisture or less) and from thehumidity in combustion air. In the disclosed process, a significantamount of water in the form of steam is comparable to the amountproduced due to combustion is injected into the combustion chamber. Incertain aspects of the present disclosure, the amount of water (i.e.,steam) injected into the combustion chamber in the form of steam may beequivalent or nearly equivalent to the amount produced during normalcombustion. Under certain operating conditions, by injecting a nearlystoichiometric equivalent amount of water in the form of steam, thereaction kinetics are affected to influence the balance of the productsverses the reactants in the combustion reaction itself. However, inother aspects of the present disclosure, it may not be necessary toinject an equivalent, stoichiometric equivalent or nearly stoichiometricequivalent amount of water or steam within the combustion chamber toachieve the desired results as injecting such an amount of water orsteam into the combustion chamber may not assist and/or may hindercombustion under certain conditions. In addition, it is also noted thatthe reaction of nitrogenous hydrocarbons (e.g., intermediate ammoniumand other nitrogen containing compounds such as nitrogen free radicals)assists in gasifying the nitrogen from protein thermal combustionproducts that aids in nitrogen oxide (NOX) control.

Without steam injection, the water content in the combustion chambercould be less than 8% due to the water in the fuel, less than 15% couldbe from water contained in the combustion air and over 77% could be fromthe combustion reactions. With steam injection comparable to thecombustion water source, these ratios change to less than about 4% ofthe water being from the fuel, less than about 8% of the water beingfrom the combustion air, about 44% of the water being from combustionsources and about 44% of the water being from direct steam injection.

While steam is used in traditional combustion to mechanically move andmanage ash transport in combustion chambers, to lower temperatures andto effect coal gas reactions (CO and CH4), the use disclosed herein isunique in its effect on the nitrogen content of the high protein organicwaste materials. In particular, the combustion reactions disclosedherein are capable of controlling NOX levels compared to traditionalprocesses applied to other readily combustible fuels.

This regulatory combustibility of traditionally non-auto-combustiblewaste products is achieved by influencing the temperature of thecombustion which also influences the amount of NOX (Nitrogen Oxides)production during the combustion process. This is how organic fluorinecompounds are converted to mineralized inorganic fluorine compounds.Through the introduction of steam within the combustion chamber, thetemperature of the combustion chamber can be controlled, nitrogenoushydrocarbons compounds are reacted with water and combustion reactionscan be influenced so that NOX production (elevated or non-elevatedamounts) can be controlled. This provides additional agitation whichalso provides additional time for the particles to heat up allowingnitrogen cross-linking and other cross linking reactions within theparticles to occur before ignition and combustion. Accordingly, theinjection of steam within the combustion chamber allows one to controlthe combustion process between various types of high protein organicmaterials providing optimal conditions for combusting high proteinorganic materials that are typically not auto-combustible. This alsoallows for organo fluorine compounds to be degraded by mineralizing thefluorine.

In addition to injecting steam within the combustion chamber, in certainaspects of the process disclosed herein, it may be desirable to increasethe protein content of the high protein organic material before itenters the combustion chamber. This may be accomplished by injecting asecondary high protein organic material such as yeast, precipitatedproteins, spent hops or other high protein materials within the highprotein organic material before it is pulverized (ground) and/or beforeit is dried. For example, the addition of yeast may be added to increasethe protein content of wet spent grain before it enters the drier.

The process described above allows for the effective combustion of highprotein organic materials (e.g., bio-solids from waste water treatmentplants; animal excreta; high protein fermentation waste and wasteby-products; high protein waste from agricultural sources of oilproduction waste by-products and by-products; and high protein meatproduction waste and waste by-products) which allows for a specific typeof high protein organic material to be used as the primary sole sourceof fuel. While these wastes or by-products may be incinerated and burntwithout undergoing the process described above, combustion can onlyoccur when the majority of the energy comes from traditionalauto-combustible fuels like wood products and wood by-products;hydrocarbons like natural gas, coal and fuel oil. The process disclosedherein eliminates any need to combine the high protein organic materialwith a readily combustible fuel source such as wood, wood chips, woodby-products, coal, fuel oil, natural gas, coal or other combustibles oradditives to aid in combustion. The process disclosed herein furtherallows the high protein organic material to undergo combustion within afurnace, steam boiler, incinerator or other combustible chamber as aprimary or as a sole fuel source.

The above-described process can be described in the following fivesteps: 1) pressing the fuel material to mechanically remove moisture andother soluble components; 2) drying the fuel material to reduce themoisture content to 10% or less by weight; 3) pulverizing the fuelmaterial to reduce the particle size to be generally in the range lessthan 2 mm; 4) agitating and/or separating the fuel product during thecombustion phase to separate particles of the fuel product to inhibittheir cohesion into an integrated mass; and 5) injecting steam withinthe combustion chamber to enhance the combustibility of the spent grainand to regulate the nitrogenous hydrocarbon combustion reactions relatedto the organic nitrogen contained in the proteins or otherwise highprotein non-combustible organic material. Although the order of stepsgenerally follows the sequence of steps mentioned above, in certainembodiments, the pulverizing step (step 1) may occur after the dryingstep (step 3) but prior to combustion (step 4).

With respect to the combustion of these examples of high proteinbiological materials as fuel products, one might assume that these fuelproducts would have abnormally high NOX (Nitrogen Oxides) emissions dueto the high protein and organic nitrogen content of these fuels. Infossil fuels, even a slightly elevated nitrogen content results directlyin elevated NOX production. However, the present process controlsnitrogen oxide formation to levels ranging from about 100 ppm to greaterthan 300 ppm. This is due to the relatively weak binding of nitrogen tothe carbon-based proteins and its combustion reactions with excess waterprovided for in the present process by steam injection. In essence, thechemical path of protein thermal decomposition allows the nitrogen totake an intermediate step to form urea, ammonium compounds and evenammonia in the present process. It is noted that ammonia is sometimesinjected into combustion furnaces for boilers to lower NOX production.This is represented by the following generically balanced generalchemical formula: aNH₃ (ammonia)+bNOX (nitrogen oxides)=cN₂(nitrogen)+dH₂O (water). Where a, b, c and d will vary numerically basedupon the actual form that the NOX takes. The present process does notnecessarily require the partial injection of ammonia into the combustionchamber due to the type of organic protein combustion reactions whichoccurs during the process which include the generation of nitrogenoushydrocarbons (e.g., intermediate ammonium and other nitrogen containingcompounds). In any event, the presence of the weak nitrogen bondedprotein generates ammonia and other nitrogenous hydrocarbon compoundsformed in the present process within the combustion chamber which allowscombustion of high nitrogen content fuel to be used without higher NOXproduction. Accordingly, the present disclosure also encompasses aprocess for making a combustible fuel product from a non-autocombustible high protein biological material used as an additive withinjected steam for a combustion system to enable having controllednitrogen oxide (NOX) production wherein protein thermal decompositionby-products react to mineralize fluorine from organofluorine compoundsand achieve polyfluoro compound and organo fluorine compounddestruction.

A general summary of the process for making a combustible fuel productfrom a high protein organic material that is non-auto-combustible isillustrated within FIG. 2. First the high protein organic material iscrushed or pulverized by a mill 10 to reduce the material to a finelyground particle size. The term “mill” is intended to include a rollermill, a hammer mill, any type of grinder and any type of particlereduction process that a person of ordinary person of skill in the artwould utilize to reduce the particle size of materials. Afterpulverizing, the high protein organic material is moved to a vessel 12and subsequently moved to a filter press 14 (or any mechanical waterseparator) where it is pressed to mechanically remove water and otherliquids from the material. It is noted that any means known to those ofskill in the art may be utilized to mechanically remove water and otherliquids from the material. The high protein organic material is thenmoved to a hopper 16 by a pneumatic pump and subsequently subjected to adrier 18 to further remove water, liquid and moisture from the material.The high protein organic material is separated from the air vapormixture by a cyclone 24, for example, and is then moved to a hopper 20.For combustion with the boiler 22 (e.g., a steam boiler), the highprotein organic material is moved in a suitable manner from the fuel binby a spraying device such as a pneumatic stoker (34) into the combustionchamber 28. In another process, steam is injected into the combustionchamber 28 from a steam generator 40 while simultaneously spraying highprotein organic material within the combustion chamber. Aftercombustion, waste ash is collected and disposed of. The above describedprocess illustrated within FIG. 2 for producing a combustible fuelproduct from a high protein organic material is intended to be ageneralized description of the overall process. It is to be understoodthat variations, modifications and rearrangements of the componentsshown within FIG. 2 may be necessary such as in the case of producing acombustible fuel product from a high protein biological material fromoil seed pulp meal as described within this document. For oil seed pulpmeal, an extractor may be incorporated at the front end of the processto remove residue oils from the oil seed pulp meal before drying andsubsequently pulverizing the oil seed pulp meal. Furthermore, becausethe drying and pulverizing steps may be optional with respect to oilseed pulp meal, it may not be necessary to include a mill 10 and/or adryer 18 within the process in certain cases. It should be noted thatwith certain high protein organic materials, parts of the processdescribed in FIG. 2 will not be necessary as the by-product may alreadybe partially processed as received. For example, in the case of meat andbone meal, feathers, feather meal, oil seed pulp residue, all of theseitems may already be dried (pre-processed) to have or already have lessthan 10% moisture, eliminating the need for the Filter Press 14 and theDrier 18 (i.e., mechanical removal of moisture of these materials maynot be necessary). Also, the process and order of steps described withinFIG. 2 may vary depending on the type of high proteinnon-auto-combustible organic material that is being utilized. Forexample, with respect to biological waste material originating fromwaste water treatment sludge, it may be necessary to first subject thebiological waste material to a drier to reduce the moisture contentbefore subjecting the biological waste material to a mill 10 forpulverization.

In further embodiments, by-products obtained from the combustion of thehigh protein organic material fuel products obtained from the processesdescribed above may be utilized to convert or degrade hazardouscompounds to less hazardous substances. Such hazardous compounds includebut are not limited to polyfluroalkyl compounds and perfluoralkylcompounds commonly referred to as PFAS. PFAS compounds may furtherinclude perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate(PFOS). By-products obtained from the combustion of high protein organicmaterial fuel products that are utilized in the conversion ordegradation of such hazardous compounds include protein thermaldecomposition by-products such as ammonium, nitrogenous hydrocarbons andnitrogen-based compounds including nitrogen oxides (NOX) and nitrogenfree radicals. These protein thermal decomposition by-products remainingafter combustion within the combustion chamber are harnessed for furthercombustion. In this process, polyfluoro compounds such as PFAS eitherpresent in the combustion chamber or added to the combustion chamberreact with protein thermal decomposition by-products also present withinthe combustion chamber to mineralize fluorine from polyfluoro and organofluorine compounds. The protein thermal decomposition by-productsfunctions as a reactive species allowing for further combustion andincineration of PFAS. In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, polyfluorocompounds are combusted within the combustion chamber 28. Optionally, afossil fuel may be added to the combustion chamber.

The above-described process to convert or degrade hazardous compounds toless hazardous substances includes controlling higher concentrations ofnitrogen oxides (NOX), CO, CO₂, nitrogenous/ammonium combustionby-products, nitrogen free radicals and other non-nitrogen containingfree radical intermediate combustion reactants in the combustion gassesof the combustion of high protein organic material. The concentration ofthese combustion by-products within the combustion chamber is controlledto react and convert the carbon-fluoride bonds in PFAS compounds tonitrogen, carbon dioxide/carbon monoxide, hydrogen fluoride (HF) andvarious mineral fluoride salts based upon the cations available in thefuel. The cations present within the combustion chamber vary upon thetype of high protein fuel used and typically include calcium, sodium,potassium, phosphorus and many others at various concentrations. Thecombination of these by-products within further combustion reactionsallows for the break-down and degradation of PFAS compounds. Thisbreak-down and degradation of PFAS compounds occurs more quickly and atlower temperatures than current processes for degrading PFAS compounds.For example, while incineration is an acceptable way to destroy PFAScompounds, it traditionally requires higher temperatures (i.e.,temperatures above 999° C.) and/or high pressures and longer residencetimes of greater than one second. These parameters require moresophisticated equipment design and greatly increase the cost andspecificity of the type of incineration equipment needed. The presentprocess, in utilizing the high nitrogen content naturally present inhigh protein organic fuel by-products and excess water injected withinthe combustion chamber, takes advantage of a novel combustionenvironment created for the combustion of non-auto-combustible highprotein organic materials to degrade PFAS compounds at lowertemperatures (i.e., 999° C. or less) for shorter periods of time (i.e.,less than 1 second) and lower pressures (i.e., close to atmosphericpressure). This novel combustion environment is not typically achievedor encountered due to the difficult nature of protein combustion. Bycontrolling the excess water, carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides(NOX), nitrogenous/ammonium combustion by-products, nitrogen freeradicals, other non-nitrogen containing free radical intermediatecombustion reactants and minerals contained in ash, the incineration ofPFAS as a subsequent step to the combustion of high protein organicmaterials can be optimized.

Examples of polyfluoro compounds used as reactants within the combustionchamber of the above-described process are provided in Table I below.

TABLE I Compound name Abbreviation Type PFAS perfluorododecanoic acidPFDoA PFAS perfluoroundecanoic acid perfluorodecanoic acid PFDA PFASperfluorononanoic acid PFNA PFAS perfluorooctanoic acid PFOA PFASperfluoroheptanoic acid PFHpA PFAS perfluorohexanoic acid PFHxA PFASPerfluoro-3,5-dioxahexanoic acid PFO2HxA perfluoropentanoic acid PFPeAPFAS perfluorobutanoic acid PFBA PFAS perfluoropropanoic acid PFAStrifluoroethanoic acid TFA PFAS Perfluoroethoxypropyl carboxylic acidPEPA PFAS perfluorooctanesulfonic acid PFOS PFASperfluoroheptanesulfonic acid PFAS perfluorohexanesulfonic acid PFHxSPFAS perfluoropentanesulfonic acid PFAS perfluorobutanesulfonic acidPFBS PFAS perfluoropropanesulfonic acid PFAS trifluoroethanesulfonicacid PFAS trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (triflic acid) PFASNonafluorobutanesulfonyl fluoride NfF PFASN-ethyl-perfluorooctanesulfonamideN-ethyl-perfluorooctanesulfonoamidoethanol PFAS ammonium salt of GenXPFAS hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid Perfluoro-2-methoxyacetic acidPFMOAA 2,2-Difluoro-2-(trifluoromethoxy) acetic acid Heptafluoropropyl1,2,2,2- E1(GenX byproduct) 1,1,1,2,2,3,3-Heptafluoro- tetrafluoroethylether 3-(1,2,2,2-tetrafluoroethoxy)propane hexafluoropropylene oxidedimer acid HFPO-DA PFAS Perfluorooctanesulfonamide FOSA/PFOSA1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8- Heptadecafluoro-1-octanesulfonamidePerfluoro-3,5,7-trioxaoctanoic acid PFO3OA2-[[Difluoro(trifluoromethoxy) methoxy]diflouromethoxy]-2,2-difluoroacetic acid Perfluoro-3,5,7,9-tetraoxadecanoic acid PFO4DA2,2,4,4,6,6,8,8,10,10,10-Undecafluoro- 3,5,7,9-tetraoxadecanoic acidPerfluoro-3,5,7,9,11-pentaoxadodecanoic acid PFO5DoDA C7HF13O7Perfluorooctane sulfonamidoethanol- SAmPAP diester based phosphate(SAmPAP) esters Chlorodifluoroacetic acid CDFA fluorinated acrylicsNafion byproduct 1 C7HF13O5S Nafion byproduct 2 C7H2F14O5S2[1-[Difluoro(1,2,2,2- tetrafluoroethoxy)methyl]-1,2,2,2-tetrafluoroethoxy]-1,1,2,2- tetrafluoroethanesulfonic acid Nafionbyproduct 4 C7H2F12O6S 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoro-3-((1,1,1,2,3,3- Hydro-EVEC8H2F14O4 hexafluoro-3-(1,2,2,2- tetrafluoroethoxy)propan-2-yl)oxy)propanoic acid Perfluoromethoxypropyl carboxylic acid PMPAC4HF7O3 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoro-2-(1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro- NVHOS C4H2F8O4Sethoxy)ethane sulfonate Gases/Refrigerants Carbon tetrafluoride CF4 Gas1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane R-134a gas Difluoromethane CH2F2 R-32fluoromethane CH3F Freon 41 Fluoroform CHF3 R-231,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane R-134a pentafluoroethane R-125 Mixture of R-32and R-125 R-410A 2,3,3,3-Tetrafluoropropene R-1234yf1,3,3,3-Tetrafluoropropene 1-Chloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropene1,1-Dichloro-1-fluoroethane Trichlorofluoromethane CFC-11 Freon 11Dichlorodifluoromethane CFC-12 Freon 121,1,2-Trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane CFC-1131,2-Dichlorotetrafluoroethane CFC-114 CryofluraneChloropentafluoroethane CFC-115 Bromochlorodifluoromethane halon 1211Bromotrifluoromethane halon 1301 1,2-dibromotetrafluoroethane halon 2402Chloro(trifluoro)methane CFC-13 Freon 13 Pentachlorofluoroethane CFC-1111,1,2,2-Tetrachloro-1,2-difluoroethane CFC-1121,1,1,2,2,3,3-Heptachloro-3- CFC-211 fluoropropaneHexachlorodifluoropropane CFC-212 1,1,1,3,3-Pentachloro-2,2,3- CFC-213trifluoropropane 1,2,2,3-Tetrachloro-1,1,3,3- CFC-214 tetrafluoropropane1,1,1-Trichloro-2,2,3,3,3- CFC-215 pentafluoropropane1,2-Dichloro-1,1,2,3,3,3- CFC-216 hexafluoropropane1-Chloro-1,1,2,2,3,3,3- CFC-217 heptafluoropropane1,1-Dichloro-1-fluoroethane HCFC-141b Dichlorofluoromethane HCFC-21 R-21Chlorodifluoromethane HCFC-22 R-22 Chlorofluoromethane HCFC-311,1,1,2-Tetrachloro-2-fluoroethane HCFC-1211,1,2-Trichloro-2,2-difluoroethane HCFC-1222,2-Dichloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane HCFC-1231-Chloro-1,2,2,2-tetrafluoroethane HCFC-1241,1,2-Trichloro-2-fluoroethane HCFC-131 Dichlorodifluoroethane HCFC-1321-Chloro-1,2,2-Trifluoroethane HCFC-133 1,2-Dichloro-1-fluoroethaneHCFC-141 1-Chloro-1,2-difluoroethane/ HCFC-1421-Chloro-1,1-difluoroethane 1,1,1,2,2,3-Hexachloro-3- HCFC-221fluoropropane Pentachlorodifluoropropane HCFC-222Tetrachlorotrifluoropropane HCFC-223 TrichlorotetrafluoropropaneHCFC-224 Dichloropentafluoropropane HCFC-225 ChlorohexafluoropropaneHCFC-226 Pentachlorofluoropropane HCFC-231 TetrachlorodifluoropropaneHCFC-232 Trichlorotrifluoropropane HCFC-233 DichlorotetrafluoropropaneHCFC-234 Chloropentafluoropropane HCFC-235 TetrachlorofluoropropaneHCFC-241 Trichlorodifluoropropane HCFC-242 DichlorotrifluoropropaneHCFC-243 Chlorotetrafluoropropane HCFC-244 TrichlorofluoropropaneHCFC-251 Dichlorodifluoropropane HCFC-252 ChlorotrifluoropropaneHCFC-253 Dichlorofluoropropane HCFC-261 Chlorodifluoropropane HCFC-262Chlorofluoropropane HCFC-271 Polymers Polytetrafluoroethylene PTFEPolyvinylfluoride PVF polyvinylidene fluoride PVDFpolychlorotrifluoroethylene PCTFE Nafion C7HF13O5S•C2F4 Various formulasperfluoroalkoxy polymer PFA fluorinated ethylene-propylene FEPpolyethylenetetrafluoroethylene ETFE polyethylenechlorotrifluoroethyleneECTFE Viton FKM? Tetrafluoroethylene propylene FEPM PerfluoropolyetherPFPE Krytox Monomers/ Hexafluoropropylene oxide HFPO fluorotelomerHexafluoropropylene HFPO-TA oxide trimer acid tetrafluoroethylene TFEPTFE precursor Fluorotelomer perfluoroethyl iodide CF3CF2Iperfluoroalkyl iodide Telomer alcohol Telomer thiol Telomer olefinPolymeric products and non-reacted reactants 1,1-Difluoroethylene 6:2Fluorotelomer sulfonic acid 6:2 FTSA3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8-Tridecafluoro- 1-octanesulfonic acid 6:2Fluorotelomer alcohol 6:2 FTOH 3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8-Tridecafluoro-1-octanol 6:2 Fluorotelomer sulfonamide 6:2 FTABN-(Carboxymethyl)-N,N-dimethy1-3- alkylbetaine[[(3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8- tridecafluorooctyl)sulfonyl]amino]-1-propanaminium, inner salt 6:2 Fluorotelomer carboxylic acid 6:2 FTCA3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8- Tridecafluorooctanoic acid 5:3 Fluorotelomercarboxylic acid 5:3 FTCA 4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8- Undecafluorooctanoicacid 8:2 Fluorotelomer sulfonic acid 8:2 FTSA3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,9,9,10,10,10- Heptadecafluoro-1-decanesulfonicacid 8:2 Fluorotelomer alcohol 8:2 FTOH3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,9,9,10,10,10- Heptadecafluoro-1-decanolFluorinated end PFOS Perfluorooctanesulfonyl fluoride PFOSFperfluorohexanesulfonyl fluoride perfluorodecanesulfonyl fluoridePesticides N-Ethyl- Sulfuramid CAS #: 4151-50-21,1,2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8- heptadecafluoro-1-octanesulfonamidePharmaceuticals Isoflurane Sevoflurane Desflurane Droperidol EnfluraneFlurnazenil Halophane Methoxyflurane Midazolam Citalopram EscitaloprarmFluoxetine HCl Fluvoxamine maleate Paroxetine Progabide Fluticasonepropionate Bioaccumlative Dexamethasone fluoroquinolones e.g.Ciprofloxacin Proprietary 3M Novec ™ Fluorosurfactant FC-4430 3M - St.Paul, MN 3M Novec ™ Fluorosurfactant FC-4432 3M - St. Paul, MN AFFF 6:2Chlorinated polyfluorinated “F-35B” CAS #: 73606-19-6 ether sulfonate3H-Perfluoro-3-[(3-methoxy-propoxy) “ADONA” CAS #: 958445-44-8 propanoicacid], ammonium salt OMNOVA PolyFox PF-159 Omnova - Beachwood, OH OMNOVAPolyFox . . . Omnova - Beachwood, OH Chemguard S-111 Chemguard -Marinette, WI Chemguard S-151 Chemguard - Marinette, WI Chemguard S-103AChemguard - Marinette, WI Chemguard S-106A Chemguard - Marinette, WIChemguard S-216M Chemguard - Marinette, WI Chemguard S-228M Chemguard -Marinette, WI Chemguard S-208M Chemguard - Marinette, WI Chemguard S-500Chemguard - Marinette, WI Chemguard S-550 Chemguard - Marinette, WIChemguard S-550-100 Chemguard - Marinette, WI Chemguard S-554Chemguard - Marinette, WI Chemguard S-554-100 Chemguard - Marinette, WIChemguard S-559 Chemguard - Marinette, WI Chemguard S-559-100Chemguard - Marinette, WI Chemguard S-760P Chemguard - Marinette, WIChemguard S-761P Chemguard - Marinette, WI Chemguard S-764P Chemguard -Marinette, WI Chemguard S-764P-14A Chemguard - Marinette, WI ChemguardS-761P-100 Chemguard - Marinette, WI Chemguard C335 3% × 3% AR-AFFFChemguard - Marinette, WI Chemguard C334-LV 3% × 3% Chemguard -Marinette, WI AR-AFFF, Low Viscosity Chemguard C364 3% × 6% AR-AFFFChemguard - Marinette, WI Chemguard C137 1% × 3% AR-AFFF Chemguard -Marinette, WI Chemguard C137-LT18 1% × 3% Chemguard - Marinette, WIAR-AFFF, Low Temperature Chemguard C337-LT13 3% × 3% Chemguard -Marinette, WI AR-AFFF, Low Temperature Chemguard C1B 1% AFFF Chemguard -Marinette, WI Chemguard C1B-LT29 1% AFFF, Chemguard - Marinette, WI LowTemperature Chemguard C306-MS 3% Chemguard - Marinette, WI Military SpecAFFF Chemguard C606-MS 6% Chemguard - Marinette, WI Military Spec AFFFChemguard C3B 3% AFFF Chemguard - Marinette, WI Chemguard C3B-LT29 3%AFFF, Chemguard - Marinette, WI Low Temperature Chemguard C6B 6% AFFFChemguard - Marinette, WI Chemguard C3IC1 3% AFFF, ICAO C Chemguard -Marinette, WI Chemguard C3IB2 3% AFFF, ICAO B Chemguard - Marinette, WIChemguard C6IC1 6% AFFF, ICAO C Chemguard - Marinette, WI ChemguardC6IB2 6% AFFF, ICAO B Chemguard - Marinette, WI Capstone ™ FS-51Amphoteric fluorosurfactant - Chemours - Wilmington, DE Zonyl ® 1033DSigma Aldrich - St. Louis, MO Foraperle ® 225 DuPont - Wilmington, DE

Examples of compounds resulting from the reaction of polyfluorocompounds within the combustion chamber are provided within Table below,

TABLE II Compound Phase at Class name Abbreviation 1600 F. Notes HFHydrogen fluoride HF Gas toxic From Ash Calcium fluoride CaF2 SolidAnalysis ↓ Silicon tetrafluoride SiF4 Gas Aluminum fluoride AlF3 SolidTitanium (III) trifluoride TiF3 Solid Titanium (IV) TiF4 Liquidtetrafluoride Iron (III) fluoride FeF3 Solid Magnesium fluoride MgF2Solid Potassium fluoride KF Liquid Sodium fluoride NaF Solid Sulfurhexafluoride SiF6 Gas Unstable Sulfur decafluoride S2F10 Gas UnstableSulfur tetrafluoride SF4 Gas Unstable Sulfur difluoride SF2 Gas UnstableDisulfur difluoride S2F2 Gas Unstable Disulfur tetrafluoride S2F4 GasUnstable Phosphorus trifluoride PF3 Gas toxic Phosphorus pentafluoridePF5 Gas toxic Diphosphorus P2F4 Gas tetrafluoride Strontium (II)fluoride SrF2 Solid Barium fluoride BaF2 Solid Manganese (II) fluorideMnF2 Liquid Manganese (III) fluoride MnF3 Decomposed Manganese (IV)fluoride MnF4 Decomposed Minerals Fluoroapatite Ca5FO12P3 AcuminiteSrAlF4(OH)•(H2O) Artroeite PbAlF3(OH)2 Baraite (ammonium (NH4)2SiF6Decomposed fluorosilicate) to HF and SiF6 Bultfonteinite Ca2SiO2F4Creedite Ca3Al2SO4F10 Cryolite Na3AlF6 Solid Fluorocaphite (Ca, Sr, Ce,Na)5(PO4)3F Kogarkoite Na3SO4F Neighborite NaMgF3 Sonolite Mn9(SiO4)4F2Thomsenolite NaCaAlF6•H2O Wagnerite (Mg, Fe)2PO4F Zharchikhite AlF(OH)2Other Zinc fluoride ZnF2 Solid elements ↓ Beryllium fluoride BeF2 LiquidLithium fluoride LiF Liquid Rubidium fluoride RbF Liquid Cesium fluorideCsF Liquid Radium fluoride RaF2 Zirconium (IV) fluoride ZrF4 SolidMercury (II) fluoride HgF2 Silver (I) fluoride AgF Liquid Copper (II)fluoride CuF2 Liquid Nickel (II) fluoride NiF2 Solid Chromium (II)fluoride CrF2 Solid oxidizes in air Chromium (III) fluoride CRF3 SolidCobalt (II) fluoride CoF2 Solid Vanadium (III) fluoride VF3 SolidVanadium (IV) fluoride VF4 Decomposes at 325 C. Scandium (III) fluorideScF3 Solid Boron trifluoride BF3 Gas Will hydrolyze to HF Gallium (III)fluoride GaF3 Liquid Platinum tetrafluoride PtF4 Liquid Cadmium fluorideCdF2 Solid Molybdenum (IV) MoF4 fluoride Molybdenum (V) fluoride MoF5Molybdenum (III) MoF3 Solid fluoride Tantalum (V) fluoride TaF5Decomposes Palladium (II) fluoride PdF2 Solid Palladium (II, IV)fluoride PdF3 Solid Gold (III) fluoride AuF3 Gas Reactive Tin (II)fluoride SnF2 Gas Tin (IV) fluoride SnF4 Liquid Lead tetrafluoride PbF4Liquid Bismuth (III) fluoride BiF3 Liquid Cerium (III) trifluoride CeF3Solid

Although certain specific steps and devices for performing the steps ofthe process of the present disclosure have been disclosed above, it willbe apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that other steps anddevices may be used without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure indicated in the appended claims. It will also be apparentthat the present disclosure may be applied to other types of highprotein non-auto-combustible organic materials. It will also be apparentthat the present disclosure may be applied to other processes, inaddition to those disclosed herein. For example, in addition to BrewersSpent Grains (termed BDG in the art) described above, the presentdisclosure may be applied to Distillers Spent Grain (DDG) and anyfermentation process of grains that produce alcohol.

We claim:
 1. A process for converting hazardous compounds to lesshazardous substances comprising the following steps: Pre-CombustionSteps 1 to 4 1) providing a non-auto-combustible organic material,wherein the organic material is a high protein organic material having aprotein content of about 10%, on a dry weight basis (DWB) or greater; 2)optionally mechanically removing liquid and soluble components from thehigh protein organic material; 3) optionally applying heat to dry theorganic material to reduce its moisture content to ten percent (10%) orless by weight; 4) pulverizing the high protein organic material toreduce the high protein organic material to a particle size of less than2 mm, wherein the pre-combustion steps of 2) optionally mechanicallyremoving liquid and soluble components from the high protein organicmaterial, 3) optionally applying heat to dry the organic material toreduce its moisture content to ten percent (10%) or less by weight and,4) pulverizing the high protein organic material to reduce the highprotein organic material to a particle size of less than 2 mm may occurin any order; Combustion Steps 5 to 9 5) separating particles of thehigh protein organic material during a combustion phase to inhibit theircohesion into an integrated mass by spraying the particles into acombustion chamber; 6) simultaneously injecting steam into thecombustion chamber to enhance combustion characteristics of the highprotein organic material; 7) allowing protein thermal decompositionby-products to react with nitrogen oxides (NOX) within the combustionchamber to form water (H₂O) and nitrogen (N₂); wherein nitrogen oxide(NOX) production ranges from about 100 parts per million (ppm) to about300 parts per million (ppm) or more; wherein protein thermaldecomposition by-products remaining after combustion include ammonium,nitrogenous hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂),nitrogen oxides (NOX), nitrogen free radicals, and nitrogen cations; 8)controlling protein thermal decomposition by-products including nitrogenoxide (NOX) production produced during combustion within the combustionchamber; and 9) incinerating polyfluoro compound impurities presentwithin the processed non-autocombustible high protein organic materialin the combustion chamber and/or adding and incinerating polyfluorocompounds within the combustion chamber, wherein the protein thermaldecomposition by-products functions as a reactive species to incineratepolyfluoro compounds to degrade hazardous polyfluoro compounds into lesshazardous substances.
 2. The process defined in claim 1, wherein proteindecomposition by-product ash resulting from the combustion of highprotein organic materials contains about 300 ppm or more ammonium,nitrogenous hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂),nitrogen oxides (NOX), nitrogen free radicals, and nitrogen cations. 3.The process defined in claim 1, wherein pulverizing, pressing, applyingheat to dry the high protein organic material particles, sprayingparticles into the combustion chamber and injecting steam into thecombustion chamber degrades the proteins contained within the particlesand denatures them by allowing nitrogen cross-linking and othercross-linking reactions to occur within the particles, allowing theparticles to complete all of the cross-linking ability before theparticles contact other particles.
 4. The process defined in claim 3,wherein cross-linking of the high protein organic material particles isprevented by prematurely initiating cross-linking reactions of thenitrogen bonds and other cross linking reactions while the particles arebeing agitated and wherein the high protein organic material particlesno longer adhere to each other, thereby arresting the particles tendencyto adhere to each other within the combustion chamber via nitrogen bondcross-linkage and other cross-linkage reactions.
 5. The process definedin claim 4, wherein the step of separating the high protein organicmaterial by spraying the processed high protein organic material intothe combustion chamber is effected through use of a pneumatic stoker. 6.The process defined in claim 5, wherein spraying the particles of thehigh protein organic material into the combustion chamber by thepneumatic stoker keeps the particles separated in the combustion chamberlong enough to allow heat transfer provided by the combustion process toquickly dry and then degrade proteins present within the high proteinorganic material and to prevent nitrogen cross linking and other crosslinking reactions between the particles that would have the particlesadhere to each other.
 7. The process defined in claim 6, wherein theparticles of the high protein organic material are separated anddispersed within the combustion chamber and ignited and burned while insuspension and separated from each other before they land and adhere toeach other.
 8. The process defined in claim 7, wherein thenon-auto-combustible high protein organic material is renderedcombustible without the addition of other combustible fuels oradditives.
 9. The process defined in claim 8, wherein the polyfluorocompound impurities and polyfluoro compounds comprise polyfluoroalkylcompounds and perfluoralkyl compounds (PFAS), organic fluoride (organofluorine) compounds.
 10. The process defined in claim 9, wherein thePFAS substances further comprise perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) andperfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS).
 11. The process of claim 10, furthercomprising controlling the concentration of ammonium, nitrogenoushydrocarbons, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrogenoxides (NOX), nitrogen cations, and nitrogen free radicals in thecombustion gasses within the combustion chamber.
 12. The process ofclaim 11, wherein the concentration of protein thermal decompositionby-products and excess water within the combustion chamber is controlledto react and convert carbon-fluoride bonds in PFAS compounds tonitrogen, carbon dioxide/carbon monoxide, hydrogen fluoride (HF),fluoride containing ash and fluoride containing minerals.
 13. Theprocess of claim 12, wherein the incineration of PFAS compounds withinthe combustion chamber occurs at a temperature of 999° C. or below. 14.The process of claim 13, wherein the incineration of PFAS compoundswithin the combustion chamber has a residence time of 1 second or lessat a temperature of 999° C.
 15. The process of claim 14, wherein thenitrogen cations and concentrations of nitrogen cations present withinthe combustion chamber after combustion of the high protein organicmaterial vary upon the type of high protein fuel used for combustion andcomprise at least one of calcium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, silicaand manganese.
 16. The process defined in claim 15, wherein PFASsubstances are degraded to an inorganic mineralized form.
 17. Theprocess defined in claim 16, wherein PFAS substances are degraded tocalcium fluoride (CaF₂) or hydrogen fluoride (HF).
 18. The processdefined in claim 17, wherein the high protein organic material is abiological waste or by-product material, wherein the biological waste orby-product material originates from waste water treatment activatedsludge waste and wherein the process comprises the following order ofsteps: Pre-Combustion Steps 1) providing a biological waste material orby-product comprising a waste water treatment activated sludge having aprotein content of about 10% or greater, on a dry weight basis (DWB); 2)removing water, moisture and other soluble components from thebiological waste material or by-product; 3) drying the biological wastematerial or by-product to reduce the moisture content to 10% or less byweight; 4) pulverizing the biological material to reduce the particlesize to be less than 2 nm; Combustion Steps 5 to 9 5) separatingparticles of the biological waste material or by-product during thecombustion phase to inhibit their cohesion into an integrated mass byspraying the particles into the combustion chamber; 6) simultaneouslyinjecting steam into the combustion chamber, wherein steam is injectedto modify and control combustion reactions by reacting with nitrogenwithin proteins to form intermediate nitrogenous-based protein thermalcombustion products which help to maintain regulatory compliance ofcombustion emissions; 7) controlling protein thermal decompositionby-products including nitrogen oxide (NOX) production, produced duringcombustion within the combustion chamber, wherein the protein thermaldecomposition by-products functions as a reactive species to incineratePFAS, organic fluoride (organo fluorine) compounds and non-organicmineralized fluorine compounds; 8) optionally, adding additional PFASsubstances in the combustion chamber for further combustion; and 9)incinerating PFAS, organic fluoride (organo fluorine) compounds andnon-organic mineralized fluorine compounds within the combustionchamber, wherein the biological waste or by-product material containsPFAS, organic fluoride (organo fluorine) compounds and/or non-organicmineralized fluorine compounds and/or wherein PFAS, organic fluoride(organo fluorine) compounds and/or non-organic mineralized fluorinecompounds are added to the biological waste or by-product materialwithin the combustion chamber for incineration.
 19. The process definedin claim 17, wherein the high protein organic material is hops residueand wherein the process comprises the following steps in the followingorder: Pre-Combustion Steps 1 to 4 1) extracting oils and othercompounds from the ground hops utilizing mechanical separationtechniques or CO2 extraction to obtain a high protein hops waste residuehaving a protein content of about 25 to about 30 weight percent, on adry weight basis (DWB); 2) providing the hops waste residue; 3) dryingthe hops waste residue, wherein the step of drying the hops wasteresidue comprises the application of heat; 4) grinding the hops wasteresidue into a powder by pulverizing the hops waste residue to ensurethat particles of the hops waste residue have a particle size of lessthan 2 mm, wherein the step of pulverizing the hops waste residueincludes subjecting the hops residue to a mill; Combustion Steps 5 to 95) agitating the hops waste residue during a combustion phase toseparate particles of the hops waste residue by spraying the particlesinto the combustion chamber to inhibit their cohesion into an integratedmass; 6) simultaneously injecting steam into the combustion chamber toenhance the combustibility of the high protein organic material; 7)controlling protein thermal decomposition by-products including nitrogenoxide (NOX) production, produced during combustion within the combustionchamber, wherein the protein thermal decomposition by-products functionsas a reactive species to incinerate PFAS, organic fluoride (organofluorine) compounds and non-organic mineralized fluorine compounds; 8)optionally, adding additional PFAS substances in the combustion chamberfor further combustion; and 9) incinerating PFAS, organic fluoride(organo fluorine) compounds and non-organic mineralized fluorinecompounds within the combustion chamber, wherein the biological waste orby-product material contains PFAS, organic fluoride (organo fluorine)compounds and/or non-organic mineralized fluorine compounds and/orwherein PFAS, organic fluoride (organo fluorine) compounds and/ornon-organic mineralized fluorine compounds are added to the biologicalwaste or by-product material within the combustion chamber forincineration.
 20. The process defined in claim 17, wherein the highprotein organic material is a high protein waste or meal from anagricultural source of oil production, waste by-products and by-productsfrom an oil seed pulp processing.
 21. The process defined in claim 20,wherein the high protein organic material comprises an oil seed pulpwaste residue, further wherein the process comprises the following orderof steps: Pre-Combustion Step 1 1) obtaining an extracted high proteinoil seed pulp waste residue having a protein content of about 35%, on adry weight basis (DWB), a moisture content of ten percent (10%) or lessand a particle size less than 2 mm, wherein oil from the oil seed pulpwaste residue may or may not be preliminarily extracted; CombustionSteps 2 to 5 2) separating and agitating particles of the oil seed pulpwaste residue during the combustion phase to inhibit their cohesion intoan integrated mass while simultaneously injecting steam into thecombustion chamber; 3) controlling protein thermal decompositionby-products including nitrogen oxide (NOX) production, produced duringcombustion within the combustion chamber, wherein the protein thermaldecomposition by-products functions as a reactive species to incineratePFAS, organic fluoride (organo fluorine) compounds and non-organicmineralized fluorine compounds; 4) optionally, adding additional organicfluoride (organo fluorine) compounds and non-organic mineralizedfluorine compounds in the combustion chamber for further combustion; and5) incinerating PFAS, organic fluoride (organo fluorine) compounds andnon-organic mineralized fluorine compounds within the combustionchamber, wherein the oil seed pulp waste contains PFAS, organic fluoride(organo fluorine) compounds and/or non-organic mineralized fluorinecompounds.
 22. The process defined in claim 17, wherein the high proteinorganic material is one of a high protein animal excreta or a highprotein animal meat processing by-product or waste and wherein theprocess comprises obtaining a pre-processed or “as is” high proteinanimal excreta or high protein animal meat processing by-product orwaste which is non-auto-combustible, wherein the animal excreta has aprotein content ranging from about 20% to about 60%, on a dry weightbasis (DWB) and the animal meat processing by-product or waste has aprotein content ranging from about 35% to about 85% dry weight basis.23. A process for converting hazardous compounds to less hazardoussubstances within a traditional combustion chamber comprising thefollowing steps: Pre-Combustion Steps 1 to 5 1) providing anauto-combustible organic fuel; 2) providing a non-auto-combustibleorganic material, wherein the organic material is a high protein organicmaterial having a protein content of about 10%, on a dry weight basis(DWB) or greater; 3) optionally mechanically removing liquid and solublecomponents from the high protein organic material; 4) optionallyapplying heat to dry the organic material to reduce its moisture contentto ten percent (10%) or less by weight; 5) pulverizing the high proteinorganic material to reduce the high protein organic material to aparticle size of less than 2 mm, wherein the pre-combustion steps of 3)optionally mechanically removing liquid and soluble components from thehigh protein organic material, 4) optionally applying heat to dry theorganic material to reduce its moisture content to ten percent (10%) orless by weight and, 5) pulverizing the high protein organic material toreduce the high protein organic material to a particle size of less than2 mm may occur in any order; Combustion Steps 6 to 11 6) injecting theauto-combustible organic material into a combustion chamber; 7) sprayingthe non-auto-combustible high protein organic material into thecombustion chamber through use of a pneumatic stoker to separateparticles of the high protein organic material and inhibit theircohesion into an integrated mass during combustion; 8) simultaneouslyinjecting steam into the combustion chamber to enhance combustioncharacteristics of the high protein organic material; 9) allowingprotein thermal decomposition by-products to react with nitrogen oxides(NOX) within the combustion chamber to form water (H₂O) and nitrogen(N₂), wherein nitrogen oxide (NOX) production ranges from about 100parts per million (ppm) to greater than 300 parts per million (ppm),wherein protein thermal decomposition by-products remaining aftercombustion include ammonium, nitrogenous hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide(CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOX), nitrogen cations, andnitrogen free radicals; 10) controlling protein thermal decompositionby-products including nitrogen oxide (NOX) production, produced duringcombustion within the combustion chamber; and 11) incineratingpolyfluoro compound impurities present within the processednon-autocombustible high protein organic material in the combustionchamber and optionally, adding and incinerating additional polyfluorocompounds within the combustion chamber as an additional or alternativestep, wherein the protein thermal decomposition by-products functions asa reactive species to incinerate polyfluoro compounds to degradehazardous polyfluoro compounds into less hazardous substances.